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Bird Identification

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American Goldfinch

Carduelis tristis Length: 5"

Look For

The American Goldfinch in spring and summer is familiar even to nonbirders. Bill color is yellow in spring and summer, dark gray in fall and winter. Winter-plumaged males resemble females, fooling many feeder watchers into thinking their goldfinches have left.

Listen for

The goldfinch's song is a variable mix of rich warbles and twitters, often given from a treetop perch. Its twittering potato-chip, potato-chip call is commonly given in flight.

play the song/call of the American goldfinch

Remember

Dull-colored winter goldfinches are often overlooked as they forage with other species. Similar in appearance to yellow-colored warblers, the American Goldfinch has a much heavier bill.

Find it

American Goldfinches forage in noisy, twittering flocks. They are common continent-wide in brushy habitat, along woodland edges, and in overgrown meadows. They visit feeders for sunflower and thistle seed.

Wow!

The American Goldfinch is the only songbird that feeds its young a diet of seeds. Brown-headed Cowbirds hatched from eggs laid in goldfinch nests cannot survive the all-seed diet.

American goldfinch song courtesy of Lang Elliot, www.musicofnature.org. This profile is an excerpt from The Young Birder's Guide by Bill Thompson, III. Purchase an autographed copy from our nature store, and check out other BWD titles designed to help you identify backyard birds.

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