Tuesday, February 13, 2001

Goldfinches create home near West Guth Park

Often bold and hungry, these birds search for small seeds, weeds, thistle and small insects

What: The Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi presents a program by compilers of local Christmas Counts. When: 7 p.m. tonight Where: Museum of Science and History. Everyone is welcome.

"A friend has given me a lovely feeder with tiny seeds. Will it work here?'' asked a voice on my telephone one morning. We figured it must be a finch feeder, useful only for feeding American goldfinches in this area. Someone had told her to tie a yellow ribbon on the feeder to attract birds, so she had.
   In most climates, members of this species are birds of summer, dressed in bright yellow and nesting late when there is a plentiful supply of seeds for adult and baby birds. Here, American goldfinches arrive in late autumn or early winter, wearing dull, gray-green with strong, white-trimmed wingbars on black wings. Young birds and old live on small seeds, weed and thistle, and small insects.
   American goldfinches were not birds with which I have had much experience. Some years they come, others don't. Usually someone is gifted a feeder, and not knowing much about what to expect, hangs it. A passing flock of goldfinches finds it and settles in to eat until the feeder no longer has food.
   The caller, Evelyn McMichael, lives in a pleasant, tree-filled neighborhood near West Guth Park. She cares for her husband who was employed at Celanese, but is now retired. He has Alzheimer's diabetes and a heart problem. She needs as much fun as she can find, close to home. I had not seen an American goldfinch this year, so I asked her to call me, let me know when they found her, and I would come and help identify them. About a week later, she called. "They seem to like it,'' she said. "There are about 12 birds.''
   Evelyn answered the door when I went to see them. A warm, welcoming smile lighted her face as she took me through the house and out the back door. She carried, in her arms, a tiny, shivering Boston Bull Terrier puppy. It was about six weeks old and was the sixth of that breed she had owned. It was easy to see she was elated with it. "I got him for myself,'' she confided, "but my husband loves him, too.''
   She showed me the feeder where the cardinals were fed, and pointed to an American robin in a patch of clover. Several old river ash trees made a pleasant shade in the yard and a squirrel obviously considered it his own. The squirrels had not made much progress on a feeder with a large ear of corn.
   A grandson had named the puppy Lexie, in honor of the Lexington Museum on the Bay, a spot he dearly loves to visit when he comes to Corpus Christi. "Just think,'' said Evelyn, "I had to wait 50 years for a grandchild.'' Both of her daughters live in Houston. She also has a granddaughter there.
   We sat by the house a minute, so that I could focus my camera on the goldfinches. 'They don't seem very shy,'' Evelyn said.
   Seeing the finches made me envious. I had several little white bags left from last year but had not hung them this year. I needed to go to Nature's Bird, get some fresh thistle seed and put them up. It's not too late.
  

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Phyllis Yochem, a Corpus Christi resident, has studied birds in Texas since 1960.

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