Goldfinch

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This is a very beautiful finch. However in the past ten years I have not seen it more than 3 times, for a short time only and always in a large, migrating flock. Yet the bird is not shy, as I know that in Cologne, Germany large groups are present all year round in densely populated areas. Maybe the environment that my garden and its surroundings offer are too bushy. The name of the bird in Dutch means water-drawer. This is a peculiar name of course, but it has a fascinating background. In the European middle ages people used to keep birds in cages. Now exotic birds like canaries had not been introduced, so people caught ordinary birds, like Chaffinches, and kept them in cages. They did the same with the Goldfinch. In some way or another they noticed that this bird could do a trick: you provided it with an imitation well, put the water deep down below, made a little bucket and put that on a rope and the Goldfinch would pull up the rope with its beak in order to get to the water.

This bird belongs to the family of Finches (Fringillidae). It is very rare in our garden and can be seen in Holland all year round. The bird is 5" and weighs 16 grams. It lives in orchards, woodlands, parks and gardens mostly. It eats seeds and small insects. The sexes do not differ from one another. The Goldfinch makes a nest in trees, bushes or shrubs, sometimes up to thrice a year. Each time some four to six eggs are produced. These do hatch after 13 days. The young are ready to discover the world outside the nest after some 15 days.

Name of this bird in various other languages
Dutch	German	French	Polish	Scientific
Putter	Stieglitz	Chardonneret élégant	Szczygiel	Carduelis carduelis