American Goldfinch

Here's an American Goldfinch. This is the state bird of New Jersey (and Iowa and Washington), and although they're here all year round, we have a harder time noticing them when they're not in their breeding plumage. The vibrant yellow indicates this is a male in breeding season; in a few months he'll look much drabber. While flamboyant plumage probably helps get a mate, in non-breeding season it can be beneficial to blend into the background more.

Though don't expect this to sound exactly like a human asking you for a snack, people have interpreted their call as sounding like "potato chip".

I think that this guy was in this spot to eat seeds from the Purple Coneflower and similar large composite-family flowers here.
August 18, 2020 at Duke Farms


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