I was headed outside today with the intention of cutting down the overgrown verbena bonariensis, which was looking quite brown and dull now that it's truly winter. But there were three bright yellow finches–at least, I think they were finches–perched on the wiry stems, picking seeds out of the flowers. So the tall purple verbena stays.
I couldn't get too close without scaring them off, but here are some highly cropped photos.