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American Goldfinch
Photograph copyright: Ashley Hockenberry - all rights reserved. Used with permission. |
American Goldfinch
Photograph copyright: Ashley Hockenberry - all rights reserved. Used with permission. |
Male American Goldfinch in winter plumage.
Photograph by Craig Houghton. Some rights reserved. |
Male (left) and female (right) American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) at a thistle feeder.
Photograph by Ken Thomas. License: Public Domain. |
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AMERICAN GOLDFINCH FACTS
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Description
The American Goldfinch is a small finch with conical bill. In the breeding season, the male is bright yellow with black cap and black wings with white wing bars. The female is dull olive green with darker brown wings with white wing bars. In the non-breeding season, the males are brownish with yellow throat, and the females are brownish. Immature birds are dull brown with pale yellow underside, and black wings with buff wing bars.
Size
length 11cm - 13cm
Environment
farmland, grassland, roadsides, orchards, parks and gardens.
Food
Seeds, also some insects. Feeds at suburban garden bird feeders.
Breeding
Nest is an open cup made of plant fibers, lined with plant down. It is placed in a shrub, fixed in place with spider web. Lays two to seven pale blue-white eggs, sometimes lightly spotted with brown. Eggs hatch after 12 - 14 days.
Range
The American Goldfinch is found in central and southern Canada, throughout the United States, northern and eastern Mexico.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Passeriformes | | Family: | Fringillidae | | Genus: | Carduelis | | Species: | tristis | | Common Name: | American Goldfinch |
Relatives in same Genus
Lesser Goldfinch (C. psaltria)
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