{"id":72176,"date":"2020-07-25T06:01:50","date_gmt":"2020-07-25T12:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=72176"},"modified":"2024-05-21T10:15:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T15:15:53","slug":"male-american-goldfinch-thistles-ants-and-aphids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/25\/male-american-goldfinch-thistles-ants-and-aphids\/","title":{"rendered":"Male American Goldfinch, Thistles, Ants and Aphids"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale American Goldfinch feasting on aphids \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days ago the first bird I photographed high in the mountains was an adult male American Goldfinch clinging to thistles that were covered in ants and aphids. The male goldfinch looked sharp in his breeding plumage.<\/p>\n

At first I thought the goldfinch was feasting on the ants on the thistle but soon realized that the ants were there because of the aphids and that it was more likely the bird was eating the aphids that the ants were attending to. Some ant species protect and farm aphids and consume the honeydew that the aphids secrete thereby creating a mutualistic and symbiotic relationship between the two species.<\/p>\n

In this photo there are tiny, green aphids on the stem just above where the goldfinch is perched and below it there are ants and aphids near the thistle flower bud.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Goldfinch male on a thistle with ants and aphids \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The ants and aphids are more visible in this photo and the aphids nearly cover the thistle stem below the flower and above the left foot of the goldfinch. Near the right foot of the finch the ants are climbing up the stem and one of the ants is on the leg of the bird. I can’t tell if the ant was biting the finch or not but it wouldn’t surprise me if it had.<\/p>\n

Typically during this time of the year I see American Goldfinches feeding on the seeds of the thistles so it was interesting to me to see this male feasting on the aphids instead.<\/p>\n

Later in the morning I photographed other yellow birds feasting on aphids, more to follow on them another day in the near future.<\/p>\n

As a child I created a homemade ladybug farm in a flower box and used to spend time each day looking through the fields near where I lived in Germany for flower stalks covered in aphids which I plucked to feed to the ladybugs and their larvae. My mom made me keep the ladybug farm out on the balcony instead of my bedroom so all the bugs wouldn’t get loose inside. I didn’t understand “why” she made me keep them outside very well as a 10 or 11 year old child but later as the mother of two young boys who were naturally curious about nature I sure did! Oh, the stories I could tell. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Stay safe.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Goldfinch photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two days ago the first bird I photographed high in the mountains was an adult male American Goldfinch clinging to thistles that were covered in ants and aphids.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2715,27,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,2716,9430,10254,3940,6623,4286,1772,7555,3504,3495,4136,6198,6199,10256,4062,4069,6622,10255,10257,2717,10258,6626],"class_list":["post-72176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-goldfinches","category-avian","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-american-goldfinch","tag-ants","tag-aphids","tag-canyon","tag-carduus-nutans","tag-eating","tag-farm","tag-feasting","tag-finch","tag-finches","tag-foraging","tag-goldfinch","tag-goldfinches","tag-honeydew","tag-male","tag-mountains","tag-musk-thistle","tag-mutualistic-relationship","tag-secretions","tag-spinus-tristis","tag-symbiotic","tag-thistle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-thistle-aphids-mia-mcpherson-9139.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-iM8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104449,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/22\/female-american-goldfinch-with-thistles\/","url_meta":{"origin":72176,"position":0},"title":"Female American Goldfinch With Thistles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Right after I photographed a juvenile Lazuli Bunting two days ago a female American Goldfinch landed in a patch of thistles in front of me.","rel":"","context":"In "American Goldfinches"","block_context":{"text":"American Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Goldfinch female perching on a thistle, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/american-goldfinch-female-thistles-mia-mcpherson-6770.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/american-goldfinch-female-thistles-mia-mcpherson-6770.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-1860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-1860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-1860.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-1860.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59176,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/23\/american-goldfinch-male-in-breeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":72176,"position":3},"title":"American Goldfinch Male In Breeding Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year I was able to take hundreds of photos of this male American Goldfinch in breeding plumage while he fed on the seeds of a Musk Thistle.","rel":"","context":"In "American Goldfinches"","block_context":{"text":"American Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Goldfinch male in breeding plumage on a Musk Thistle, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-male-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-1981.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-male-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-1981.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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