[Maine-birds] American Goldfinches and Beet Greens

Greetings all, 

I have been watching the AMGO's at my house quite a bit lately, and while I thought I had found them doing something which seemed odd, I was able to confirm today that they were in fact eating leaves. It was not entirely surprising given that they are pretty strict vegetarians, and I have seen them eat all manner of seeds, but never actually witnessed them shredding apart the leaves of trees or plants. They have been doing this for weeks now, and there are a number of them in the garden at almost any point through the day. The high count was 28, however it is usually only about 6-8. Up until today though, I have not been able to catch them at it as the beets are just outside the back of the house and every time I approach they fly off. So up until today I had only fleetingly seen it, where I was finally able to capture some pictures and video. 

Given that most discussions of their diet consists of seeds from various plants/trees with occasional insects,  or as noted in the Birds of America Volume 3, they can   my first assumption was that the reason the beets looked so tattered was an insect was eating the leaves and that the AMGO's might be feeding on them. Closer inspection showed no major outbreak of bugs on these particular leaves, or at least not anything more than what is on or around every other plant in the garden. Looking at the other plants in the garden most are in great shape with the exception of the brussel sprouts and cauliflower which a groundhog decided to enjoy. 

So my question now are:

A) Is this common and I have just missed it previously? I assume it can't be that common otherwise it would be mentioned in a guide somewhere.

B) Why these beets(Early Wonder variety) and not other plants in the garden? (I know they are delicious with garlic and olive oil and a dash of red pepper flakes, but that is not how we planted them! :-) ) 

C) Are there any other plants that they are known to enjoy?

Figured I would toss these questions out and gather an informal poll!

Cheers, 

Rob O'Connell

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