Fall Birds Coming and Going

A few weeks a go I mentioned that I had cleared away some of the coneflowers.  I left most of them because the birds love the seeds.  This is what a coneflower seed head looks like after a Goldfinch has been at it.

American Goldfinches aren't too picky about what they will eat.  They eat  fromthe feeder that I fill with mixed seed and at the one with thistle (Nyger) seeds.  Here we see a goldfinch sharing the perch of the mixed seed feeder with a nuthatch.  

Their companionability didn't last too long, though ...
 
The goldfinches are the major customers at the thistle seed feeder.  They will be flying south for winter soon; we'll see them again in spring and all during next summer as they breed and raise their young.

The feeder above doesn't get quite as much business as MidMarsh John's feeder gets from his goldfinches (click here).  American goldfinches are a little smaller than the English ones and are also less colorful, especially in their winter wardrobe.  Here are a couple of pictures showing very toned-down gold.  But just wait until spring when they start to court and spark.

How many birds can you see below? 

There are at least four; 3 goldfinches and one female slate-colored Junco.  For brief periods in autumn and spring, these species overlap here in Minnesota as the goldfinches mass to migrate south and the juncos arrive to spend winter here.  We are not too far from the northern limit of the juncos' winter territory.  They breed all across northern Canada and Alaska.  Then they migrate south to Minnesota (and much farther, too) for the warmth; they must have some good insulation!  Below are a closer shot of the female and 2 shots of a male. 

This next bird, the ruby-crowned kinglet, is just passing through on its way to a more reasonable winter climate all across the souther states and into Mexico.  I may even be able to spot some in Belize when we go back in February!

This one is either a female that doesn't have the ruby crown or a male that is hiding his like they sometimes do.  They are both less than 4 inches long.  in this cold snap, they are all puffed up to stay warm.

The purple finches shown below are also just passing through to their winter grounds in the southeastern states.  They don't venture as far south as the kinglets do.  Only the males have the lovely redish head, back, and breast.  This one is probably a juevenile male.

I'll finish with this handsome chipmunk that scavenges seeds spilled from the feeders.  We usually have 4 or 5 of them around.  They gather up the seeds into their check pouches and then go hide them somewhere.  We find clumps of grasses, sunflowers, and other things growing in the oddest places; most recently in our potted plants that had been on the patio before we brought them indoors for winter.