Art Lander’s Outdoors: The American Goldfinch, male turns bright yellow as days lengthen in spring

Adult males turn a bright yellow in what seems like just a matter of days, as if they were blooming wildflowers, when the days begin to lengthen in spring.

The American Goldfinch undergoes two molts a year. It sheds and re-grows most of its feathers before the onset of cold weather, then sheds and re-grows all its feathers, excepts for its wings and tail, in the spring. (Photo provided)

The American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis, a member of the Finch Family, Fringillidae, is found throughout Kentucky, year-round, but abundance varies somewhat seasonally.

In summer they disperse into semi-open and open habitats, dominated by early successional vegetation. In winter, they congregate in flocks, and visit feeders in suburban and rural backyards.

What makes this species unique among Kentucky’s breeding birds is its late nesting, usually not beginning until late July.

But the beautiful coloration of the male, which changes with the seasons, and their musical vocalizations associated with courtship and nesting, are probably what enamors us to this migratory songbird.

Description and Size

The American goldfinch is a small bird, about five inches tall, with a wingspan of about eight inches.

Adults weigh less than an ounce.

Its conical beak — pink for most of the year, but bright orange during the spring — aids in the extraction of the tiniest of seeds from thistles and sunflowers, and other plants that produce seed heads.

Once the spring molt is complete, the body of the male is a brilliant lemon yellow, with a jet black cap and white rump that is visible during flight. The female is mostly brown, lighter on the underside with a yellow bib. (Photo provided)

The American Goldfinch undergoes two molts a year. It sheds and re-grows most of its feathers before the onset of cold weather, then sheds and re-grows all its feathers, excepts for its wings and tail, in the spring.

Plumage coloration varies by season.

Once the spring molt is complete, the body of the male is a brilliant lemon yellow, with a jet black cap and white rump that is visible during flight.

The female is mostly brown, lighter on the underside with a yellow bib.

After the autumn molt, the bright summer feathers are replaced by duller plumage, becoming buff below and olive-brown above, with a pale yellow face and bib.

The autumn plumage is almost identical in both sexes, but the male has yellow shoulder patches.

The song of the American Goldfinch is a series of musical warbles and twitters.

Range and Distribution

The American Goldfinch nests as far north as central Canada, and winters as far south as southern Mexico.

Throughout most of the Lower 48 states, from Washington state to Maine, south to North Carolina, and west to northern California, the American Goldfinch is present year-round.

Birds that nest in Canada, winter southward, with some stopping over in Kentucky, but heading back northward by early May.

Want to bring the American Goldfinch to your backyard? Hang out a specialized feeder filled with nyjer seed, sometimes referred to niger thistle seed, and they will come in flocks. Finches also relish millet seed and black oil sunflowers. (Photo provided)

There are four recognized subspecies.

The bird’s preferred habitat is patches of roadside thistles and weeds, overgrown fields, the edges of forests or woodlots, orchards, and rural suburban yards backing up to brushy farmlands.

Food Habits

The American Goldfinch is primarily a seed eater, foraging actively in weeds, shrubs, and trees, often climbing about acrobatically.

The seeds they prefer are from flowers in the sunflower or aster family, but they also will eat weed and grass seeds, and the small seeds of some tree species.

During summer nesting they may eat high-protein insects to a limited extent. The young are fed regurgitated matter mostly made up of seeds.

Want to bring the American Goldfinch to your backyard?

Hang out a specialized feeder filled with nyjer seed, sometimes referred to niger thistle seed, and they will come in flocks. Finches also relish millet seed and black oil sunflowers.

Nesting

Nesting begins later in the season, compared to other migratory songbirds, generally peaking during July and August.

But, in Kentucky, the spread of the musk thistle, an early-maturing exotic weed that provides food and nesting material, may be responsible for some earlier nesting activity.

Both parents feed the nestlings. At first male brings food, and the female gives it to the young, then both parents actively feed the young. The young leave nest about 11 to 17 days after hatching. (Photo provided)

In courtship, male performs fluttering flight display while singing.

This nest is usually built in a deciduous shrub or trees, or dense weeds, placed in horizontal or upright fork. The female builds the nest, a solid, compact cup of plant fibers, spiderwebs, and plant down, usually from thistles.

She lays four to six pale bluish white eggs, sometimes with light brown spots. Incubation is by female, and lasts 12 to 14 days. The male feeds the female during incubation.

Both parents feed the nestlings. At first male brings food, and the female gives it to the young, then both parents actively feed the young. The young leave nest about 11 to 17 days after hatching.

They are Kentucky’s wild canaries, beautiful birds that brighten up rural backroads and fields throughout the spring and summer, then come to our backyards in winter, looking for seed to help them get through our coldest weather.

Art Lander Jr. is outdoors editor for KyForward. He is a native Kentuckian, a graduate of Western Kentucky University and a life-long hunter, angler, gardener and nature enthusiast. He has worked as a newspaper columnist, magazine journalist and author and is a former staff writer for Kentucky Afield Magazine, editor of the annual Kentucky Hunting & Trapping Guide and Kentucky Spring Hunting Guide, and co-writer of the Kentucky Afield Outdoors newspaper column.