American Goldfinch

Carduelis tristisOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Finches (Fringillidae)

American Goldfinch Winter Male - The winter American Goldfinch, like the immatures, are either brownish or grayish above. The male may show some black on the forehead.

American Goldfinch Female - The female American Goldfinch is duller yellow than the male, has olive above and lacks the black cap and yellow shoulder bar.

American Goldfinch - The breeding male American Goldfinch has a bright yellow body, black cap, wings, and tail, and a white rump and undertail coverts. The wings have flashy white patches. Bill is pink and conical.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch: Small, noisy finch. Male has a bright yellow body, black cap, wings, and tail, and white rump and undertail coverts. Wings have flashy white patches and bright yellow shoulder bar. Bill is conical. Undulating flight, alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "per-chick-oree"

● Foraging & Feeding: American Goldfinch: Feeds primarily on seeds; prefers hanging onto seed heads rather than feeding on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: American Goldfinch: Four to six pale blue to white blue eggs are laid in a well-made cup of grass, bark strips, and plant down, and built in a small sapling or shrub. Incubation typically ranges from 10 to 12 days and is carried out by the female; male feeds her on the nest.

● Similar species: American Goldfinch: Yellow Warbler lacks black wings and tail. Lesser Goldfinch has yellow undertail coverts.

Flight Pattern

Undulating flight., Several rapid wing beats and then a pause.

● Range & Habitat: American Goldfinch: Breeds from southern British Columbia east to Newfoundland and south to California, Utah, southern Colorado, central Oklahoma, Arkansas, and the Carolinas. Spends winters throughout much of U.S.; prefers brushy thickets, weedy grasslands, and nearby trees.

^BreedingMonogamous

^PopulationDeclining slightly

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.5 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America