The American Goldfinch - Sonoma County’s golden bird.

December 29, 2006 on 1:54 pm | In Bird Alert |

Greetings!

Don’t get me wrong - warblers are beautiful little birds, but when I long to see a brilliantly yellow percher, it’s the American Goldfinch I’m raising my birding binoculars in search of. Just take a moment to gaze at this pair of American Goldfinches, shown right. I think you’ll agree, the male bird is a special fowl, with a color combination of canary yellow and black that is truly memorable and unique in our corner of the globe.

What I love best about the American Goldfinch
His ability to perch on a weed is such a winning quality. Imagine what it would be like to be so tiny, so light, that a mere blade of field grass seems like a spacious and ample support. Thistles are also preferred resting and feeding stations in the American Goldfinch’s endless pursuit of little seeds to eat. Just last week, my husband and I had the pleasure of standing within feet of a pair of these birds, both clinging to a tall weed in a Glen Ellen playground, swaying gently in the winter breeze.

My favorite American Goldfinch memory
Three years ago, my husband and I were setting up housekeeping in the new home we’d just moved into. Of course, birdfeeders were a required part of making the new house a home, but we had a bit of an accident trying to fill one of the new feeders we’d bought, and our sunflower seeds spilled all over the patio outside the front door.

“Well, the California Quails and other ground feeders will enjoy these,” I reasoned, thus sparing myself the activity of finding the broom to sweep the seeds up.

Yet, imagine our surprise when we awoke the next morning to find our patio literally paved, not with chubby quails, but with a flock of American Goldfinches that must have been 30-40 strong! They were huddled, wing to wing, gaily gorging themselves on our serendipitous spill, and never in my life have I been so sorry I didn’t have a good camera to capture a sight I suppose we may never have the luck to see again. I can hardly find words to describe the lavish yellow of that astonishing cluster of birds against the grey concrete. It was one of the birding highlights of both our lives. And, I do believe it may truly have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The goldfinches have never returned to the seeds we now sometimes spill on purpose.

Further field notes on the American Goldfinch, Carduelis tristis
Both the American Goldfinch and the Housefinch are visitors to our hanging tube feeders. We greatly admire the glowing crimson of the Housefinch’s headdress, but he looks a bit untidy and ordinary compared to the smaller, yellow bird. The American Goldfinch measures only 4 1/2″ - 5″ from head to tail, with a wingspan of 9″. The female lacks the black crown, and shows more muted shades of yellow, olive and tan. In winter, the male is less brilliant in hue, but I am still seeing a few black-capped males as late as December, though they are supposed to lose these in the cold months.

The American Goldfinch is a year-round Sonoma County bird. Look for them in your own garden, in parks and especially in pasture lands where they sit in the openings of barbed-wire fences. While feeders are an excellent way to invite goldfinches to your yard, your surest way is to leave weeds unmown along your fences, should you be so fortunate as to have a bit of land. I would say that any habtitat containing the combination of a wire fence and tall weeds makes me automatically look around for American Goldfinches.

One of the distinctive features of this bird is its scalloped flight pattern. Up and down it skips in short swoops as it flies, and this is generally accompanied by its wonderful flight song which, if you wanted to replicate it with a musical instrument, would require a slide whistle or a violin. To my ear, it sounds as though he does an octave-wide slide from upper D to lower D and then back to upper D again, following the up and down swoop of flight. Pretty neat!

American Goldfinches build tidy, cup-shaped nests of grass, plant down and bark in trees or bushes. They lay 3-6 light blue eggs.

Do you have any tips for inviting American Goldfinches to the backyard? Any special foods you’ve noticed them taking a shine to? If so, we’d love to hear your comments here.