An acrobatic little songbird

Last Sunday, I sat watching a small field of drought-stricken black oil sunflowers.

Many of the sunflower stalks were dying from lack of rain but had managed to make small heads of seed.

The field was alive with American goldfinches.

Cardinals and house finches also were feeding on the sunflower seeds.

But the goldfinches were the most adept at hanging over the sides of the drooping sunflower heads and picking out the seeds.

The acrobatic little songbird you see here is a female American goldfinch.

Its mate is much brighter, with dominant colors of bright yellow and dark black.

The American goldfinch is native to North America and remains in Southeast Missouri year round.

The American goldfinch prefers open fields and roadsides. It seldom ventures very far into the forest.