American Goldfinches

Here are a couple American Goldfinch pictures. These are males wearing their vibrant yellow-and-black plumage. Females, juveniles, and non-breeding males all have more subdued coloring.

I've occasionally heard of people reporting an American Goldfinch sighting as a "escaped canary", and the Domestic Canary is somewhat related. I suspect that some people just don't think that such a colorful bird would be flying around in the wild in NJ (selectively forgetting about birds like Northern Cardinals).

These birds are considered one of the strictest vegetarians in the passerine world. While many passerines preferentially eat insects, and most will at least supplement their diet with insects, for American Goldfinches it's all about seeds. One consequence of this is that they're seldom a victim of brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds, since the cowbird nestlings can't survive on the American Goldfinch's non-insect diet.

July 25, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 148652407, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

July 25, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 148652740, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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