As an apartment dweller, I’ve come to accept that I can’t attract the great numbers and variety of birds to my balcony feeders that people with yards of their own can. What’s interesting, however, is that apartment-dwelling birders within the same complex attract different kinds of birds.
One bird I frequently see in another section of LG is the American Goldfinch, seen here enjoying sunflower hearts at a fellow birder’s feeder. (That’s a nice feeder, by the way, because the outer wire layer excludes squirrels and larger feederhogs like pigeons, doves, and jays.) This male goldfinch is in his paler, winter plumage. Come summer his pale feathers will be replaced with bright yellow ones, and his head and forehead plumage will become black. The goldfinches have yet to make an appearance in my corner of LG, but that’s okay. It’s a real treat to walk by this feeder and, almost without fail, see one of these lovely songbirds.
