American Goldfinch

Bird Directory

American Goldfinch

Bird Name: American Goldfinch

Field Marks: In summer, the male American Goldfinch looks much like a yellow canary with a black cap, wings and tail. The female is olive green on top with a yellow throat and chest. In winter, only the face and shoulders of the male remain yellow while he becomes brown above. The female is gray in the winter and sometimes has a trace of yellow on her throat. The male and female look more alike in the winter.

Feeder Food: Sunflower seeds, mixed seeds

Natural Food: Seeds, especially thistle and dandelion, insects, insect larvae

Behavior: The American Goldfinch flaps its wings and then glides in a roller-coaster fashion. You many see it tuck its wings and plunge downward.

Song: swee-eat or per-chicory in flight.

Pictures were reproduced by permission.

Sources:

Alden, Peter and Brian Cassie, National Audubon Society Feild Guide To New England, New York: Alfred A.Knopf, 1998.

Dawe, Neil and Karen, The Bird Book, New York: Workman Publishing, 1988.

Forbush, Edward Howe, Birds of Massachusetts, Norwood, Massachusetts: Norwood Press, 1929.

Reed, Chester R., Bird Guide: Land Birds East of the Rockies, Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1951.

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American Goldfinch	Bird Name: American Goldfinch
	Field Marks: In summer, the male American Goldfinch looks much like a yellow canary with a black cap, wings and tail. The female is olive green on top with a yellow throat and chest. In winter, only the face and shoulders of the male remain yellow while he becomes brown above. The female is gray in the winter and sometimes has a trace of yellow on her throat. The male and female look more alike in the winter.
	Feeder Food: Sunflower seeds, mixed seeds
	Natural Food: Seeds, especially thistle and dandelion, insects, insect larvae
	Behavior: The American Goldfinch flaps its wings and then glides in a roller-coaster fashion. You many see it tuck its wings and plunge downward. Song: swee-eat or per-chicory in flight.