American Goldfinch

Carduelis tristis

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family FRINGILLIDAE - Subfamily Carduelinae

Menu

1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A familiar and abundant small colorful bird, the American Goldfinch is frequently found in weedy fields and visiting feeders. It shows a particular fondness for thistles, eating the seeds and using the down to line its nest.

Cool Facts

• The American Goldfinch changes from winter plumage to breeding plumage by a complete molt of its body feathers. It is the only member of its family to have this second molt in the spring; all the other species have just one molt each year in the fall.

• The American Goldfinch is one of the latest nesting birds. It usually does not start until late June or early July, when most other songbirds are finishing with breeding. The late timing may be related to the availability of suitable nesting materials and seeds for feeding young.

• The American Goldfinch is gregarious throughout the year. In winter it is found almost exclusively in flocks. In the breeding season it feeds in small groups. Whether it maintains breeding territories is debatable.

• The American Goldfinch is mostly monogamous, but a number of females switch mates after producing a first brood. The first male takes care of the fledglings while the female goes off to start another brood with a different male.

Description

• Size: 11-13 cm (4-5 in)
• Wingspan: 19-22 cm (7-9 in)
• Weight: 11-20 g (0.39-0.71 ounces)

• Small bird.
• Bill small, pointed, conical, and pink.
• Body bright yellow to dull brown.
• Wings dark with large white wingbars.
• Tail short and notched.
• Breeding male bright yellow with black cap and wings.

• Eyes black.
• Undertail white.
• Flies with bouncing flight.
• Calls frequently in flight.
• Usually found in small flocks.

Sex Differences

Summer male is bright yellow with a black cap whereas female is drab olive. Sexes similar and drab in winter.

Male

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: Body bright lemon yellow. Cap and forehead black. Wing and tail feathers black with white edges. Undertail white. Legs pale. Bill orange yellow with dark tip.
Winter (Basic) Plumage: Face, throat, and chest dull yellow. Back and crown olive brown. Underparts olive gray. Shoulder yellow. Wing and tail feathers black with white edges. Belly and vent white. Legs dark grayish brown. Bill dark grayish brown.

Female

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: Upperparts yellowish brown. Underparts dull yellow. Some females brighter yellow. Wing and tail feathers blackish brown with whitish edges. Wingbars whitish. Legs pale. Bill orange-yellow with dark tip.
Winter (Basic) Plumage: Crown, nape, and back olive-green. Chin, throat, and chest olive-yellow. Wing and tail feathers blackish brown with whitish edges. Wingbars buffy colored. Belly and vent white. Legs dark grayish brown. Bill dark grayish brown.

Immature

Juvenile brown above and pale yellow below. Wing and tail feathers blackish brown; male darker than female. Wingbars and feather tips buff.

Similar Species

• Lesser Goldfinch similar to female American Goldfinch, but has dark tail tip with white patches at base (or none at all in females) instead of white extending along the sides of the tail feathers to the tip. Undertail coverts yellow, and a white patch at base of primaries in the wing.
• Lawrence's Goldfinch grayer, with yellowish wingbars, and dark tip to tail.
• Pine Siskin often found in goldfinch flocks, has streaks on chest and back, and yellow confined mostly to wingbars.

Sound

Song a long series of twittering and warbling notes. Common contact call a "tsee-tsi-tsi-tsit," often given in flight. May be described as "per-chic-o-ree" or "po-ta-to-chip."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds across continent from central Canada southward to northern Nevada, Oklahoma, and central Georgia.

Winter Range

Winters from Canadian border southward to southern United States and into Mexico.

Habitat

Breeds in weedy fields, roadsides, orchards, and gardens. Winters in weedy, open areas, and moves into urban and suburban areas to eat at feeders.

Food

Seeds, especially of composite flowers. Few insects.

Behavior

Foraging

Feeds in flocks. Hangs from seed heads or feeds on ground.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest an open cup of rootlets and plant fibers, lined with plant down. Placed in small shrub and lashed to branches with spider silk.

Egg Description

Color: Pale bluish white, sometimes with small faint brown spots around large end.

Egg size: 16.2-16.9 mm x 12.2-12.8 mm.
(0.64-0.67 in x 0.48-0.50 in)

Incubation period: 12-14 days.

Clutch Size

2-7 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with wisps of grayish down.
Chicks fledge in 11-17 days.

Conservation Status

Abundant and widespread. Populations appear stable.

Other Names

Chardonneret jaune (French)
Dominiquito viajero, Dominiquito triste (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Middleton, L. 1993. American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis). In The Birds of North America, No. 80 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.