American Goldfinch
Spinus tristis

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Genus: Spinus

Audio for Species

Song
Call
Call/Song

from Macaulay Library

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Additional American Goldfinch Pictures

Description

Length: 4.3-5.1 in (11-13 cm) Weight: 0.4-0.7 oz (11-20 g) Wingspan: 7.5-8.7 in (19-22 cm)

Goldfinches have a small conical bill and a short notched tail. Adult Basic plumage is olive brown above, olive yellow below, gradated to buff on sides and flanks; males have brighter yellow throats, jet black flight feathers, yellow or olive yellow lesser coverts, black greater coverts, tipped with white; females have blackish brown flight feathers, olive lesser coverts, blackish greater coverts tipped with white or raw sienna. Breeding plumage the male mostly lemon yellow, with a jet black cap that includs the forehead, crown, and lores; wings are also jet black, with white tips; wing coverts are yellow with the greater coverts white tipped. The tail is black,with white on inner webs. The bill is orange; legs and feet are light brown. Females are brighter than in Basic plumage, with brownish olive on back, greenish yellow on forehead, throat, abdomen and rump. The sides and flanks are raw sienna; wings and tail blackish brown, worn tips; white on inner webs of tail; bill dull orange, legs and feet dusky brown.
Juveniles are brown above, pale yellow below, shading to raw sienna on sides and flanks. Their flight feathers are dark blackish-brown, males darker than females; wing bars and feather tips yellow-brown.

Habitat, Range, and Feeding

The Goldfinch habitat consists of weedy and grassy fields, open floodplains, and other overgrown areas, especially with sunflower, aster, and thistle plants for food and some shrubs and trees for nesting. They are also common in suburbs, parks, and backyards.

The female builds the nest, that is an open cup of rootlets and plant fibers lined with plant down, woven so tightly that it can hold water. The female lashes the foundation to supporting branches using spider silk, much like the Bushtit. It takes her about six days to build. The clutch size is 2 to 7 eggs, that are pale blue-white and sometimes spotted faint brown on the large end. They incubate for 12 to 14 days and the chicks fledge in 11 to 17 days.

They eat most exclusively on seeds, such as: sunflower, thistle, grass and tree seed.