# Goldfinches and orioles

*Spinus tristis, Icterus galbula*

Two birds that never eat milkweed, and take it apart anyway.

## What it does on milkweed

The goldfinch nests later than almost any North American songbird, timing it to the seeding of thistles and milkweeds, and lines the cup with the silky floss from a split pod. Baltimore orioles strip long fibers from the bast of dead milkweed stems and weave them into their hanging nests. Neither bird eats any part of the plant, and neither can use a stand that is cut down each fall.

## How to recognize it

Goldfinches are small and bright yellow with black caps and wings in summer. Baltimore orioles are the size of a thrush, the males brilliant orange and black.

## Where and when

Goldfinches across most of the United States, orioles across the east and midwest.

## Should you do anything about it?

Leave the dead stems standing through winter and cut them in spring. This is the single most useful thing you can do for the plant’s other users.

### Should I cut milkweed back in fall?

Not unless you have to. Standing stems give orioles nesting fiber, shelter overwintering insects, and hold seed for later dispersal. Cut in early spring instead.

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Source: https://milkweedusa.com/wildlife/goldfinches-and-orioles/ — Milkweed USA, CC BY 4.0.