American Goldfinch

Carduelis tristisOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Finches (Fringillidae)
American Goldfinch Portrait
  Splitbar
Range Map for American Goldfinch

Overview

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.

Range and 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.

Splitbar

Listen:

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Voice Text

"per-chick-oree"

Splitbar

Related Birds:

Pine Siskin
Lawrence's Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch
Western Tanager
Evening Grosbeak
Yellow Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Yellow Grosbeak
Oriental Greenfinch
.

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Family Buntings, Finches, Sparrows (Emberizidae)_blue
Species Carduelis tristis
Length5 Inches
Wingspan8.875 Inches

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.
American Goldfinch: Breeding Male
● 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