American Goldfinch
Carduelis
tristis
Description
4 1/2-5" (11-13 cm). Smaller than a
sparrow. Breeding male bright yellow with a white rump, black
forehead, white edges on black wings and tail, and yellow at bend of
wing. Female and winter male duller and grayer with black wings,
tail, and white wing bars. Travels in flocks; undulating
flight.
Voice
Bright per-chick-o-ree, also rendered as
potato-chips, delivered in flight and coinciding with each
undulation.
Habitat
Brushy thickets, weedy grasslands, and
nearby trees.
Nesting
4 or 5 pale blue eggs in a well-made cup
of grass, bark strips, and plant down, placed in the upright fork of
a small sapling or a shrub.
Range
Breeds from southern British Columbia east
to Newfoundland and south to California, Utah, southern Colorado,
central Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Carolinas. Winters in much of United
States.
Discussion
Since this goldfinch's main food is
seeds, nesting does not begin until midsummer or late summer, when
weed seeds are available. Thus goldfinches remain in flocks until
well past the time when other species have formed pairs and are
nesting. Because they nest so late, only a single brood is raised
each season. They migrate in compact flocks with an erratic, "roller
coaster" flight. Studies of their winter migrations from Vancouver,
British Columbia, and Washington State have shown that these birds
hesitate before flying across water. In one instance, some returned
to the mainland. One by one, the whole flock followed suit. Ten
minutes later they returned to the waterside, chattering noisily.
Many birds then continued on. Those remaining repeatedly took wing
only to veer off and again return to land. Finally, a sharp drop in
temperature forced the birds to complete their
migration.
