Last week I was watching a male and female cardinal pick up fallen seed on my bushes. The male picked up a seed and fed it to the female. Today I saw a male and female goldfinch flitting around a tree branch. The male kept touching the female's beak--he dipped his head down to the branch a few times so perhaps he was picking up small insects and giving them to her? She didn't appear to be begging...he just did it voluntarily, at least six or seven times in succession. It was adorable because it looked like they were kissing. I know male birds feed females when they are on the nest, but does this behavior start before a female has laid her eggs? Or is it social bonding?