Species: Spinus tristis

American Goldfinch
Species

    Breeding adult male is bright yellow, with black wings, a bold white wing-bar, and a black forehead. Breeding adult female has yellow-brown plumage with dark wings and light wing-bars. Nonbreeding male resembles adult female but has yellow patches on the head and throat and yellow lesser wing coverts. Nonbreeding female has a brownish back, grayish underparts, and buffy wing bars. Both sexes have white undertail coverts. Length: 13 cm, wingspan 23 cm.

    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Aves

    Order

    Passeriformes

    Family

    Fringillidae

    Genus

    Spinus

    Classification
    Other Global Common Names
    Jilguero Canario - chardonneret jaune
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Fringillidae - Spinus - belong to different clades.

    Breeding adult male is bright yellow, with black wings, a bold white wing-bar, and a black forehead. Breeding adult female has yellow-brown plumage with dark wings and light wing-bars. Nonbreeding male resembles adult female but has yellow patches on the head and throat and yellow lesser wing coverts. Nonbreeding female has a brownish back, grayish underparts, and buffy wing bars. Both sexes have white undertail coverts. Length: 13 cm, wingspan 23 cm.

    Migration
    true - true - true - Northern populations are migratory, whereas southern breeders are year-round residents. Overall, migrations peak from mid-April to early June and from late October to mid-December; specific timing varies across the large range.
    Non-migrant
    true
    Locally Migrant
    true
    Food Comments
    Feeds on seeds (e.g., birches, alders, conifers, thistles, goldenrod, etc.); eats some berries and insects (Terres 1980). Young fed partly digested, regurgitated seeds.
    Reproduction Comments
    Nesting occurs relatively late for a songbird. In most areas, egg laying occurs primarily in late June, July, and August, sometimes in May or into September, with a peak in June and July, but some populations in California and Baja California nest from April to early July. Clutch size is 4-6 (usually 5). Incubation lasts 12-14 days. Young leave the nest about 11-17 days after hatching. Young depend on one or both parents for food for about 3 weeks after fledging.<br><br>Brown-headed cowbirds are brood parasites that sometimes lay eggs in American goldfinch nests. However, the cowbird young rarely survive. Probably this is because goldfinches feed mostly seeds to their nestlings, and this diet is inadequate for cowbird development.
    Ecology Comments
    Except during the breeding season, usually travels and forages in flocks.<br><br>
    Length
    13
    Weight
    13
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    1996-12-04
    Global Status Last Changed
    1996-12-04
    Other Status

    LC - Least concern

    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S5&CA.BC=S4&CA.MB=S5&CA.NB=S5&CA.NF=S4&CA.NS=S5&CA.ON=S5&CA.PE=S5&CA.QC=S5&CA.SK=S5&US.AL=S5&US.AZ=S1&US.AR=S4&US.CA=SNR&US.CO=S5&US.CT=S5&US.DE=S5&US.DC=S5&US.FL=__&US.GA=S5&US.ID=S5&US.IL=S5&US.IN=S4&US.IA=S5&US.KS=S5&US.KY=S5&US.LA=__&US.ME=S5&US.MD=S5&US.MA=S5&US.MI=S5&US.MN=SNR&US.MS=S5&US.MO=SNR&US.MT=S5&US.NN=S1&US.NE=S5&US.NV=S5&US.NH=S5&US.NJ=S4&US.NM=S2&US.NY=S5&US.NC=S5&US.ND=SNR&US.OH=S5&US.OK=S5&US.OR=S4&US.PA=S5&US.RI=S5&US.SC=SNR&US.SD=S5&US.TN=S5&US.TX=S2&US.UT=S4&US.VT=S5&US.VA=S5&US.WA=S5&US.WV=S5&US.WI=S5&US.WY=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    Breeding range extends from southern Canada (southern British Columbia east to southwestern Newfoundland) south to southwestern California and northern Baja California, Arizona, New Mexico, extreme northeastern Texas, northern Louisiana, northern Mississippi, central Alabama, central Georgia, and South Carolina (AOU 1998). Winter range extends from southern Canada and the northern United States south to northern Baja California, northern Sonora, New Mexico, Texas, the U.S. Gulf coast, and southern Florida (AOU 1998). See Prescott and Middleton (1990) for information on age and sex differences in winter distribution in eastern North America.
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105854