Things you need to know about the GOLDFINCH!

Among the many colourful birds of the UK, in my opinion, the goldfinch has to be up there as one of the most beautiful. These small birds have a wingspan of 21 to 25 cm and grow to between 14 and 19 grams in weight. But what goldfinches lack in size they make up for in colour and personality. Adult birds have Red, white and black heads with cream and white undersides and cream backs. Their wings are mostly black with white spots towards the tips and one of their defining features is a patch of bright gold feathers which becomes a bar when they are in flight. Males usually have more and deeper red markings and longer beaks, but this isn’t always easy to tell from a distance.
Goldfinches are social birds, often roaming from place to place in small flocks, sometimes mixed with other species. A flock of goldfinches is known as a charm although this has nothing to do with how charming they are, it originates from the old English word C’irm with describes the birds twittering song which I’ll share with you later in this video. Their habitat is traditionally farmland and open countryside but they are becoming increasingly common in urban areas, including along roadsides, in parks and in overgrown wasteland and they can become regular visitors to garden bird feeders. Their diet is mostly made up of seeds, particularly thistles and teasels but they will also take sunflower seeds and nyger seeds from bird feeders. When they are rearing chicks they do sometimes eat insects and invertebrates.
Goldfinches in the UK start to breed later in the year than a lot of other species, probably due to their reliance on seeds. This begins around the beginning of may when a pair will form and begin the construction of a cup shaped nest of grass, lichen, roots and moss, lined with wool and hair. Once the nest is complete the female will lay between 4 and 6 pale eggs with brown splotching. These eggs measure around 17mm in length and once the clutch is complete, the female will incubate them alone for 12 to 13 days. At first the chicks are featherless and pink. Both parents bring a constant supply of food to them in the nest and as a result, they grow rapidly. By just 13 to 18 days of age, they are ready to fledge. The parents, especially the father continue to feed the young for several weeks after they leave the nest when they join larger charms and learn how to fend for themselves. Young goldfinches do not have the bright head markings of their parents and don’t get these until their first moult. In a single year each pair of goldfinches can nest 2 or three times, sometimes rearing young way into September.
Goldfinches are found across the whole of the UK except for some upland parts of Scotland and they are also found across mainland Europe, north Africa, west and central Asia. They are an introduced species in Australia, new Zealand and Uruguay. Around 1.7million pairs currently breed in the UK each year, which represents an increase of more than 100% since the 1970s and their numbers are still thought to be increasing. Some goldfinches in their northern range in Europe and in the UK do migrate south for the winter, heading towards Spain and the Mediterranean whilst some also stick around for the colder months. They have an average lifespan of 2 years but as usual with wild birds the oldest known individual lived much longer, to 10 months and 2 days of age.
#gardenbirds #britishbirds #birdwatching
Thanks to Ian Wicks, Sabir Bapir and WhiteBlackbird for letting me use some of their nesting footage, their channels can be found here:
• Goldfinch Nest
• I filmed a nest with y...
• Goldfinch the movie
Some of the other images and footage used in this video was is licenced under creative commons, the originals and their licence details can be found here:
• Aggressive Goldfinches
• European Goldfinch On ...
• Goldfinches Feeding on...
• European Goldfinch for...
• Goldfinch feeding on C...
• Feeding a European Gol...
• European Goldfinch fle...
• Goldfinches feeding on...
• Distelfinken - Young E...
• Goldfinch / Szczygieł
• Euopean Goldfinches us...
• Jilguero / European Go...
• Goldfinch drinking - 2...
• Junger Stieglitz - Eur...
• Goldfinch2
• Jilguero europeo (Card...
• O canto do Pintassilgo...
• Carduelis carduelis ju...
• Putter (Carduelis card...
• Stieglitz (Carduelis c...
eggs: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

[@General_Confusion]

I'm in North Suffolk and i have about 50 of them coming to my feeders for sunflower hearts all day every day, they manage to wade through about a pound of seed a day from Five feeders. Really nice to see something doing well.

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Yeah, they're one of the species that are locally doing quite well which is nice. It must be worth it if you carry on feeding them :)

[@General_Confusion]

@@pippajennings5856 The video reminded me to order another 20kg of sunflower hearts.

[@dermodsmyth7645]

We do the same thing and our winter garden is full of these beautiful birds...

[@denniswillson5990]

I have a pair coming into the garden in Lincolnshire. They seem to mostly like sunflower hearts too

[@zeusricochant7357]

They do like black seed. I haven't seen them in a while. First day I put black seed out they then came back. I'm in Scotland Aberdeenshire

[@Avrillo-gf7tx]

I live in central London and have a 2 large bird feeders outside. I’m lucky to have a Goldfinch or two visiting my feeder, I genuinely feel blessed watching them eat! Lovely birds.

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Its great that you get to see them in central london. In norfolk I see them more in the city than the countryside and its nice that such a beautiful bird can survive in urban areas.

[@poppykitten6138]

London here, no garden. These guys appeared last year to my window feeders and visit many times a day. They’re currently teaching their beautiful youngsters to eat sunflower hearts. 😊

[@riktye8800]

Today on a very wet day in Salford, Manchester a Goldfinch sat out in the rain on a high branch on our cherry blossom tree. Literally like he was king of the world ( the street usually dominated by magpies) . He was with another one that was sat in neighboring tree. It’s the first time I have seen them here in Salford.

[@bronzewand]

I saw one in my South London garden yesterday just after subscribing to your channel! I have only ever seen one before, a few years ago. Made my day!

[@spacecadetlottie6940]

Goldfinch are one of my favourite birds + are a sign of good luck for me 🍀 I wasn't aware a flock was referred to as a charm 🤔 🥰 Very awesome content sir! 😎 Thank you kindly 🙏

[@coecludd]

Another lovely informative video. Many Thanks 😊

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you!

[@Monicas__Sleepstreams]

Goldfinches are so cute and funny when they make the "skreaming" noices and fighting in the air, when they battle for food on feeding places.

[@pauldurkee4764]

I can confirm in Wales, they are more common now than at anytime I can remember. They love the sunflower hearts and nyjer seed, we have had flocks of about 20 in a relatively small garden.

[@richardcollings9472]

Pair of these sit looking into my bedroom window at me if I have a lie in , sitting on the windowsills 😊

[@nickwebb9290]

Totally agree Liam, these are beautiful birds. Another super post, thank you 🙏

[@usha54]

Really enjoyed watching your videos.. GoldFinch is a beautiful bird

[@T1M6]

Practically the only bird that visits us every day ...its unusual to see other species.... Their squabbling on the feeders is so entertaining. I didn't know they live such a short time .

[@PaddyStubbs70]

Love these beautiful little birds and you've done them proud with this excellent video, Liam. Thanks for sharing.👍👍👍

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thanks Paddy and welcome to the channel. I have seen your previous comments and will (hopefully) get round to replying to all of them soon. Cheers!

[@missapippin9020]

Thank you Liam. Goldfinch are beautiful and their song is beautiful too.

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you :)

[@terencemeikle534]

Delightful video. Many thanks. Nice to hear of a species expansion in the UK, particularly these colourful and melodious little characters. 😀

[@pip393]

The American Goldfinch is a very pretty bird along with our Cardinals; but our woodpeckers especially the Pileated is a magnificent thing of beauty.

[@Biffo1262]

They appeared in my garden about 6 years ago and stayed. We have a good sized feeding station, pond and small artificial stream. They most we see at any one time is about 15 to 20. Since the pond and stream have become established we have had in addition to the Golfinch, Goldcrest, Brambling, two breeding pairs of Bullfinches, Long Tailed Tits, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Coal Tit, Sparrowhawk who is a bit of a PITA, Dunnock, breeding Wrens, Chaffinch though less and less of them, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, all the usual LBJ's, Starlings (greedy beggars), Mistle Thrush, Red Kite overhead, numerous Buzzards, Magpies far too many, Grey Heron unfortunately for the fish, Jays, Willow Warbler and numerous Robins. My garden has an overgrown allotment at the back and we are situated in Salford near peat mossland but actually in an urban setting. I put the variety down to the feeding station, pond and shallow feeder stream which is very popular in hot weather. The overgrown allotment is full of impenetrable brambles which has attracted many breeding birds, notably the Bullfinch and the Goldfinch. We have a mix of conifers and well established cherry trees. Our garden has become an absolute delight but it costs a small fortune in sunflower heat, peanuts, niger, millet, mixed seed and fat balls. They eat better than we do.

[@ripmurdock6975]

Wow, very impressive variety of wildlife.

[@frenzyviz6296]

I get a few of these in my garden. I feed sunflower hearts.

[@nor0845]

One thing I will tell you, is their song changes from area to area. Where I live now (Highland) the song includes a very pronounced sliding note…complete with accompanying head action! Sadly, like many songbirds they are seldom seen now. Beautiful little birds.

[@elfspicer]

Excellent

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you!

[@iainmacvicar5858]

I adore their song in the spring. lovely vid, thankyou.

[@kevinlewis3029]

I love seeing these birds while I'm out and about. I really like small birds Blue tits, robins sparrows they all have great characters.

[@mrsmith4662]

What a lovely bird.

[@mazhayumveyilum5el5i]

Nice, yesterday i saw one lovely pair gold finch 🌹

[@AShotOfWildlife]

They are beautiful birds!

[@xhogun8578]

I love seeing goldfinches on my bird table.

[@lyestrance]

GoldFinch is a real artist .he is real singer bird not like others bird! goldfinch make release several melody each year (he mix and remix and compose and editing note and pitch and more) he do too mixing and mastering . he do harmony for each note and each note put it in mode like musician (i can say he do it well better than muscician) i studied GoldFinch for 5 years he is amazing creature incredible . i learn much musical lesson by GoldFinch. (he make too effect for his melody) maybe you will not believe me. it's less too much to talk about this bird. he is just amazing! take care about this bird! thanks for your video. i wish you best all!

[@rocky5755]

Super video. Well done.

[@24jonbarnes]

Love your videos, keep it up

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you!

[@shiningxie1395]

Great job MATE Thank 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 Yes they are a BEAUTIFUL BIRD' MATE! Great STUFF. Thank you for sharing. Cheers Andre South Australia...🤲🙏🤲👏👏👏👌👌👌👍

[@sallybutler1005]

My late grandads favourite birds ❤

[@debrandw246]

I saw the first one I ever saw before last week. Beautiful bird from Wales, UK

[@Yawnyaman]

Love the video, these birds are now very common in the area where I live and may be the most common finch. Don't forget the bronze chest patches!

[@kateparker6931]

The patches look like they are wearing a bikini top. Adds to their charm, I think.

[@ANiMALFRiENDS_GOLDMAN]

I copied the little beeping noise and they replied. Within one week they started adding whistles and funny noises. They evolve if you speak to them. They test you out by making crazy noises to see if tou can copy. When they realise you are definitely speaking to them they get so excited and jump around as if they have waited for us tontake this beautiful step of love towards our beloved bird sisters and brothers. Even kites respond to me and circle around my head. They love the human who speaks to them and anyone can and should do this it makes you so happy and the birds go mad. You will see how the while area of Bird sounds will change in volume and styles. We evolve through love we devolve through hate and death and eating carcasses. Only love will set you free. Divine unconditionally love for ALL BEINGS

[@cara1067]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@mairnealachamu]

I love these birds. Their name in Irish is Lasair Choille, which literally translates as Flame of the Forest, which I think is just prefect for them.

[@31Blaize]

Saw some of these little beauties taking the seeds off the ragwort growing in my garden last autumn, their song is indeed lovely. They always look a bit too exotic to be a British bird!

[@celestenova777]

Lovely video. I used to see them in my garden in Scotland as well as the Bullfinch, another beautiful bird but now I'm living way down South I rarely see them. Great "charming' video, thank you.

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you. In recent years I have noticed more of both species locally in Norfolk, which is nice.

[@jess53nz]

They are so sweet but rather shy here. I never get very close. Never heard the song before!

[@lifeisbutadreamsodreamon]

A lovely video recommendation in my dash :) I find their flight pattern adorable, and when they do their waffle board singing at the same time is 😍

[@vetworker]

A regular visitor to my bird feeders. Probably my favourite garden bird because of their colour. A friend of mine who works for the RSPB told me their favourite food of all time is black sunflower seeds.

[@pauldurkee4764]

Have you tried Nyjer seed, it's known as a favourite food of goldfinches, and you might be lucky to get some siskins also.

[@vetworker]

@@pauldurkee4764 I have but not had much success with it I’m afraid. Maybe I should persevere.

[@pauldurkee4764]

@@vetworker Definitely keep trying, when I first tried with a nyjer feeder we had nothing for weeks, then all of a sudden goldfinches and siskins. 👍

[@vetworker]

@@pauldurkee4764 I will do 😊👍👍👍

[@Bertil_Lundin]

Thanks Liam for sharing another great "Things you need to know" video! Greetings and have a good day! // Bertil.

[@MelgaardBosch]

i have up to 70 gold finches in my garden here in Denmark, they devour my sunflower heart feeders. need to refill daily. its pretty hard on the wallet. but lovely bird to watch.

[@dengueberries]

I think what I love most about goldfinches is the short high pitch chirps when it's flying or foraging. First you hear them, then you look up the canopy of a tree to reveal them hopping between branches. You can even see them in central metropolitan areas, which is a fantastic change from the typical rock pigeons.

[@tonkysue207]

Gorgeous birds..always an honour to see them .lovely channel.💙uk

[@peteryoung4957]

Hi Liam. Another great video. I agree with you, IMO Goldfinches are my favourite bird to see.

[@Philiia]

Thanks for your videos. I have learnt more from you than from my well thumbed bird book😀

[@Calvin.The.Unfindable]

i live in a flat - but i have a beautiful big holly bush right outside my bay window, i get a few birds at my window feeders, but on rare occasions i will get a goldfinch stay around for an hour or so flitting around in the holly, i must be on some sort of route through for them! they are stunning birds

[@sidensvans67]

Lovely birds . Thank you .

[@davemarshall4651]

Brilliant

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thanks Dave!

[@Tascountrygirl]

Thank you so much. I live in Tasmania and was delighted to watch this beautiful video because when I moved to my present address four years ago, there were and still are many pairs of nesting goldfinches each year. I found a beautiful woven goldfinch nest in a tree on my front grassed area which I kept after the birds had left, as an object of beauty and bird creativity. I am a bird lover and belong to Birdlife Australia which supports, educates and advocates for important bird issues in this country eg keeping mudflats for our migrating birds which fly on the great eastern flyway or by another flyway to the north pole to breed and back again.

[@paulwarner5674]

Beautiful.

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you!

[@paulwarner5674]

​@@AShotOfWildlifeI'm ecstatic. I have Goldfinches in my garden here in Cheltenham Glos. So far only seen 5 but wow what a site. Such vibrant colours. What and where should I feed them to make them happy.

[@curiousuranus810]

Lovely post, as usual, but play the bird's calls for longer!

[@philiptaylor7902]

Great vid Liam. It was good to learn where the collective name “charm” came from. I didn’t think it could be from their behaviour, they may look beautiful but they are tough little birds!!

[@tinapeds4901]

Love these beautiful birds, they always come to my bird feeders in my garden for their favourite feast sunflower hearts.

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Brilliant, they are really beautiful!

[@tinapeds4901]

Definitely 👍 and so is the Robin another one of my favourite birds. 😍

[@raymondpenalver7095]

As always Liam I've learnt alot of new facts again from another one of your great videos thanks so much 🙏

[@Beak_to_lens]

EPIC VID LOVE U😊

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thanks!

[@clareshaughnessy2745]

I was born and brought up in urban Merseyside. Didn’t see a goldfinch for the first fifteen or more years of my life. Now, however, the goldfinch seems to have overtaken sparrows and starlings as the most ubiquitous birds around

[@susanlavin5295]

Thanks so much for your beautiful videos 🌻

[@mandyhernon2238]

A lovely enjoyable video and great to hear their song. I hope I haven't thought every nice song is Robins.

[@jankitteringham8483]

I adore these birds. I have many in my garden , they love the sunflower hearts. One actually gets into the squirrel proof feeder and lounges whilst eating. I They like the bird bath, so funny! 🥰🇬🇧

[@keithedmunds7536]

once again exellent video on a really attractive bird thanks for sharing

[@DrGranfouzi]

I'm a big lover of the goldfinches. They are very smart and they have personality. I had one as a pet. And he was my only friend.

[@OldSkoolWax]

I'd love you to do one on redpolls and siskins, they've started coming to my feeder and I adore them

[@philiptaylor7902]

You are very lucky. We have had the occasional Siskin or Redpoll on our feeder in recent years but none so far this winter. They are absolutely fantastic little birds.

[@OldSkoolWax]

@@philiptaylor7902 I get about 8 redpolls showing up like clockwork at 8am and 4 siskins. great to watch with the coffee before heading to the office

[@Indigenous-English-Man]

I live on a council estate in the north of England and I’ve got them feeding from my garden feeders.

[@MyKharli]

Out of all the birds i see in SW Scotland its only Goldfinches and red kites that are on the up . They love any seed heads especially teasels , dandelions and daisies . I think they like burdocks too but not seen them on them .

[@cymro6537]

Beautiful bird ; in the Welsh language, we call the Goldfinch _Teiliwr Llundain_ ( London's tailor)😊 ✨👍

[@AShotOfWildlife]

That's interesting, a few other people have shared local names for goldfinches, probably more than any other bird I've made a video about thus far!

[@xl250mon5]

In Wales we call it the "nico" people used to keep them and breed them.

[@Rootythe1st]

I really enjoy your videos. What I like is that you get straight into the facts and they are the perfect length for my short attention span and cover the main facts. Thank you

[@sundancer014]

I'm in New Zealand and often wondered where else Goldfinch have been naturalised in the world.Thank you for your most informative item.I have enjoyed a few other of your items,so please keep them coming.

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you. I live that you are the other side of the world and have enjoyed something I narrated in my tiny spare room! Cheers

[@joshuarosen6242]

I definitely did learn something. We have a pair of goldfinches visiting our garden to eat teazel seeds. They are beautiful birds.

[@gregorysagegreene]

I saw these very occasionally in open farmland back in Tasmania as a kid, more particularly where there was the odd heavily-foliaged low shrub conifer. And it was a joy to track these beautiful birds' flight back to a bush, and then peer in thru' the branches to find a sweet little cup of tiny eggs.

[@Tascountrygirl]

Hi I am another Tasmanian, previously married to a Yorkshireman from Dewsbury whom I met in Sydney. I love the goldfinches in my cul de sac street off a main road. It is relatively quiet and many trees in each front grass area have a nesting pair at breeding time. They are a joy to see and hear. I adored watching a charm with their young ones alighting on dandelion stalks, bending them over and stripping the seeds to eat. This is when my back garden has overgrown a bit probably my choice to see the goldfinches.

[@cyberlizardcouk]

goldfinches seem to have become more common around chesterfield around a decade or so ago and their numbers seem to have exploded. in the summer months they often perch on our phone cable out the front of our bedroom and they always sound so happy and chirpy (no pun intended).

[@xt225]

Good stuff 👍👍

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you!

[@jonesyacdc]

The robin here practically feeds out my hand, and if a blackbird comes he fight's them. So funny. Robins are hard as nails😂❤

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Robins are brilliant little characters!

[@stupidhandles]

Apparently the only British species that will fight to the death to defend territory!

[@gaynormainwaring1853]

My mum used to call Robins the thugs of the garden.

[@ramjamfull5]

thanks for the video

[@AShotOfWildlife]

You're welcome, thanks

[@overlander123]

Goldfinches are an introduced species here in Australia. A beautiful little bird. They aren't a pest like sparrows and starlings.

[@ofeliawotsits6080]

I had never seen one until we moved to our current house. Now we get about 60 or more flying around and they just love sunflower seed. The bird table gets crowded with 25 to 30 of them sometimes. They are social, but are so funny in that they bicker with each other when feeding, and spend too much time sometimes shoving each other out of the way in order to get the seed. They twitter very loudly up in the trees in large groups, so it’s obvious when they are around. I read that a long time ago they used to be caught and caged because they are so pretty. They are by far the commonest bird by us, and Sparrows are the most rare!

[@franktuckwell196]

Out of the group that visit my garden every day, there is one that picks and chucks 9 out of 10 peanuts, chucking all others on the floor. That was the main reason that i changed from sunflower hearts to chipped sunflower hearts, because they tend to take one beakful and drop the rest. There was about two thirds on the floor, dropped by them and wasted, or encouraging pigeons and rats. This is a small group that come all the time about ten in all.

[@darrenporter1850]

Saw a few in the trees and singing, visiting mums bird bath last few weeks. They seemed jealous when other birds were in the bath.

[@patchlolly979]

Old jimmy rutter knew a good goldfinch RIP old friend

[@jacquelineithell307]

I have about 4 come to my garden each day and am amazed at how quickly they have become to trust me absolutely 💯 magnificent

[@Spiritueli]

really like your channel. as im from europe, i can compare my birdies with your descriptions and see the diffferences ...

[@ersklordy]

Had about 50 to 60 roosting in a tree in my garden before Christmas looked like barbles probably about 20 now great to see

[@ukwildlife]

Excellent video as always, I do love a goldfinch

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you!

[@witchelm3734]

I have goldfinches at my bird feeders every year here in Scotland. I put niger seed and sunflower hearts for them. Beautiful birds 😊

[@JazzyJADAxxx]

Bullfinches should be an inspiration to all men

[@helenmudge3223]

Thank you for your videos, I've got addicted to them. They're great, and even tho I've been a bird lover for yonks you still manage to teach me something new each time!

[@jondeegan9410]

Thank you was really interesting and informative

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you very much!

[@ToxicVaccines_HivHoax]

I was gonna say the goldfinch is my favorite bird of them all. But then the video recommendation about the robin came up and I was reminded that actually the robin is my favourite bird of them all! 😂 🦚🕊🔥

[@stevenperry7493]

A great video Liam as usual ,we have a large flock in our garden of up to 10 to 20 through out the year ,& with the song & colour they are a real joy to see .😊

[@SkylarkFields]

We get these in our garden. They are the most likely bird to be seen on our feeders or sitting in a tree. I was interested about the slight differences between male and female. If we are out and about and we can't decide what a bird, partly hidden in a tree or bush is, we just say it's a goldfinch - and we are usually right! 😉

[@Hertog_von_Berkshire]

Here in east Berkshire, Goldfinches are quite common though they tend to be seen in ones and twos, unlike Chaffinches and Blue Tits which appear in larger flocks. Thanks for the video. I'm sorry to learn of their short lifespan.

[@dogfox2380]

Claass channel🎉

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you!

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

There seem to be quite a number of goldfinches that live on the same (south facing) hillside as us, but I see them in the garden only infrequently, visiting the feeders but sometimes apparently "hunting" under the eaves, perching on the telephone wires then darting to the very top of the wall where it meets the roof. I've been told they're looking for spiders. (Plenty of those !) Perhaps we only see them when there's a new brood to feed ?

[@louis6.4L]

We get many sightings and have had Goldfinches nesting in our fir tree in our garden for several years now. We have group of about four. They also take it in turn drinking water from our large bird bath but one is always on watch for predators like cats. Very beautiful, social and intelligent birds.

[@fairycherub1]

I'm in Essex and I get lots of these in my garden. They go crazy for sunflower hearts . I can't keep the feeders filled quick enough

[@peterjohnston8116]

Goldfinches were introduced to Australia in the 19th century. I have seen them in the bush here.

[@Edward-rw3kq]

Absolutely love them....I see them on my dog walk through the sand dunes at the local beach....had my first gold finches in my garden during lockdown and I let the garden go wild but beautiful.

[@jonathanskinner2343]

Another great video

[@AShotOfWildlife]

Thank you!