Appearance: The American goldfinch is a small bird about 4.5″ long, bright yellow body, black wings with white stripes, a black forehead, short orange beak. During winter has a dingy brown body, duller yellow head, and thicker white stripes on its wings. Breeding females are similar to males except their bodies are lemon yellow and their wings have more white tips
Diet: Seeds from flowers, weeds, grasses, and small trees. Some insects.
Feeder food: Thistle seed (Nyjer)
Habitat: American goldfinch is a common bird throughout the contiguous US and southern part of Canada. Weedy fields, roadsides, orchards, and backyards.
Nesting:
- Nest: American goldfinches build their nest in a deciduous shrub or tree, sometimes conifers, placed on a branch’s fork as high as 20′.
- Broods: 1-2 broods/season
- Clutch: 2-7 eggs per brood
- Egg color: Very pale blue to white, occasionally faint brown spots on the larger end.
- Egg size: 0.5 inches by 0.5 inches
- Incubation: The female incubates the eggs for about 12-14 days while the male brings food to the female.
Migration: American goldfinches are partial migrators. Many remain in their year-round range for all seasons of the year while others migrate north to breed in spring and then migrate south for the winter.
Year-round range: Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and the remaining US states to the east and south (except Florida).
Breeding range: Northwest Washington, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, northern Minnesota & Michigan, as well as the southern Canada provinces.
Winter range: Western Oregon, California, southern Nevada & Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and the state of Florida.
Range Map
