northeast-flora-and-fauna

This picture was taken near bird feeders, and I'm pretty sure this House Finch was hanging around because he was still hungry. In the meantime he had commandeered this branch as he made his lunch plans. Similar to their American Goldfinch cousins, House Finches are pretty dedicated lifelong vegetarians, so the seed-based food at most bird feeders is right up their alley. Some birds become more vegetarian as they become adults despite being raised on protein-rich invertebrates by their parents, but House Finch nestlings are mostly vegetation. This probably means their unlikely to be victimized by brood parasites like the Brown-headed Cowbird .

Here's another American Goldfinch I encountered last winter. Though the eye-popping neon-yellow breeding plumage isn't there, this 1 is more easily recognized as a goldfinch because he's still probably the yellowest bird around. (The previous winter goldfinch I showed was probably a female.) As fairly committed vegetarians, American Goldfinch probably adjust better to wintertime foraging when insects are scarce. Aside from the cold, their biggest complaint about winter might be that they get sick of hearing their American Robin and Northern Cardinal neighbors whining about how they'd love a fat caterpillar or a juicy moth for months on end. January 26, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 263364365, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a Northern Cardinal picture from last December. Similar to yesterday's post of a Gray Catbird , the cardinal had food on his mind, and I suspect those are more Multiflora Rose berries in his mouth. (At least those look like Multiflora Rose thorns on some of those branches.) Note that I said his/he; only the adult males have the flamboyant red plumage, and while some birds (I'm looking at you, American Goldfinch ) only have bright plumage during breeding season, the Northern Cardinal males look this way all year round. This is an interesting evolutionary "choice" that the Northern Cardinal has made. I'm sure their bright coloring has attracted unwanted attention from Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks , it probably does ensure that only the strongest, wiliest males survive to breeding season to pass on their genes to the next generation [1]. Although Northern Cardinals are common enough that we may take them for granted, people who haven't seen ...

Here's an American Goldfinch I met last November. Some people think they migrate because they don't see tiny flamboyantly yellow birds bopping around during the winter. They might be surprised to learn that American Goldfinch don't "dress" like that all year round; the males have their bright yellow plumage only during breeding season, then go back to a much more subdued plumage (which also provides better camouflage to hide from predators) during the cold weather months. Females are also more colorful during breeding season, though the difference between their summer/winter plumage is a lot more subtle. Most birds have a preference for eating bugs but will switch to seeds in the winter when arthropods are difficult to find. Goldfinches on the other hand are fairly committed vegetarians; they're happy eating seeds all year round. I'm sure the type of seeds they eat varies depending on what's available during a season, but if you're at a dinner par...

While most of us would be pretty uncomfortable eating upside down, this American Goldfinch considers it to be just a routine maneuver to get a meal. Being able to maneuver through a thick patch of wildflowers is easier if you're open to creative positioning. (Being small helps too.) A male American Goldfinch in breeding plumage has a shockingly bright yellow appearance. To get such a bright yellow look, they've got a secret: their feathers are yellow at the ends but white closer to the body. This means that any sunlight that gets through the yellow feathering tends to reflect back out again. The book What It's Like to Be a Bird by Sibley describes it as "the feathers of a goldfinch essentially form a translucent yellow film with backlighting". September 29, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 248786468, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's another American Goldfinch on Purple Coneflowers that've gone to seed. That "gone to seed" part is key. While Purple Coneflowers may be a cool place to sit and rest, they're also a great food source for the seed-loving American Goldfinches. Though you might not like having one of your chairs made out of chocolate or bacon, American Goldfinches don't seem to mind sitting where they eat. And Purple Coneflower seeds must be pretty appealing to them since these flowers were in a pretty busy area, a flowerbed in front of the Duke Farms Orientation Center. They were willing to tolerate some large, loud primates milling around them to get their beaks on those tasty seed morsels. And this wasn't a one-off either; I got pictures of them in basically the same spot in prior years. Given this was still breeding season, I suspect the lack of plumage vibrancy means this was a female. September 9, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 248761189, (c) jpviolette, some rights ...

I met this American Goldfinch late last summer. Many people think that these birds migrate away in the winter, and while they do migrate NJ is within the large range where they can be found throughout the year. You won't though see the vibrantly plumaged males in the winter, since their winter plumage is much more subdued, closer to the plumage of breeding females [1]. My guess is that this is a mature male who is starting to transition into his less colorful non-breeding plumage. The males are known for their vibrant yellow-and-black plumage. You might be wondering how they acquired said plumage; here's a Native American explanation brought to you by ChatGPT: One interesting story about the American Goldfinch involves its role in the folklore of the Native American Ojibwe tribe. According to Ojibwe legend, the Goldfinch was once a pure white bird, but it acquired its distinctive yellow and black plumage after helping to rescue the Sun during a great fire. As a reward, the Sun...

The picture of an American Goldfinch reminds me just how light many of our birds are. This little fella is able to perch on what looks like a sturdier-than-usual blade of grass. These birds typically weigh less than half an ounce, and only a little more than a Kennedy half dollar (the vaguely common US coin that's closest to them in weight). By way of contrast, Mourning Doves weigh 9 times more than goldfinches, and American Crows weigh around 35 times more. (This is one small bird.) As birds that fly, there are obvious benefits to being light. The heavier you are the more calories it takes to get you off the ground. As one of our smallest commonly seen birds, our goldfinches probably derive some foraging benefits too. They can eat seeds out of thistles and coneflowers while perching on these flowers. June 12, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 209947165, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's an American Goldfinch (presumably) trying to hide from the local paparazzi (me). As you can see, her efforts were only partially successful as she hid behind an old flowerhead.  I suspect that goldfinches would still have their breeding plumage this time of the year (they are late-season breeders), and the plumage doesn't look bright/vibrant enough to be a male. Goldfinches are still around here in the winter, but it's a little hard to recognize them in their winter disguise (winter plumage). If you saw any of these guys this winter, you were seeing American Goldfinches. (There were a few of the much larger female Northern Cardinals in the video too.) Incidentally, flowers like these (some of them were Purple Coneflowers (aka Echinacea)) are popular with small seed-eating birds like goldfinches. Those flowerheads have (or maybe had) seeds in them that can provide a convenient food source for birds. September 14, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 168281140, (c) jpviolette,...

Though some wildflowers grow pretty low to the ground, the fight for sunlight and the ability to photosynthesize means that many grow to 3-8 feet in height. This enables someone like this American Goldfinch to hide in there pretty well. All too often when I'm out trying to get pictures, I fail to approach areas like this quietly and discreetly enough, and birds/butterflies will flee before I get a picture. Of course, many other times if you approach really slowly and carefully, you find there was nothing there to scare off. And moving really slowly all of the time makes it hard to cover a lot of ground. There's no perfect solution to trying to find these guys. I think some of those plants are probably thistles which have gone to seed, seeds that a goldfinch would happily eat. This habitat probably provided both camouflage cover and nutrition. August 5, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 148952799, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Sometimes I almost get an identifiable picture. This frequently happens when the subject doesn't disappear entirely (like frogs/turtles diving into water), but when wings of a fleeing animal obscure details. In this first instance, I can tell this is one of our commas just from shape/color and visible patterns. But I can't distinguish between our 2 most common commas: The small pattern of the top view of the wing seems closer to the spots I'd see on an Eastern Comma . There seem to be 2 blurred pale lines on the moving underwing, which suggest the 2 marks (dot and curved line) that I'd see on a Question Mark . In this case I'm stuck with being able to tell the genus (Polygonia) but not the species. July 30, 2021 at Negri Nepote Native Grassland Preserve Photo 149012466, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The next one shows a bird trying to avoid getting its picture taken, though not in time. Though there's not much detail of the face, the yellow bo...

Here's an American Goldfinch I saw last summer. Though the picture is obstructed, the rich yellow-and-black coloring means this is the more flamboyantly colored male of the species. He appears to be in a spot with a number of thistles (we've got both invasive and native species around here), which would make a certain amount of sense since thistle seeds are one of the American Goldfinch's (and other seed-eating birds') favorite foods. One popular thistle seed substitute commonly used in bird feeders is Nyjer  seed; I think it's sometimes referred to as "thistle seed" although Nyjer isn't considered a thistle. AFAIK Nyjer seed is a healthy substitute for our seed-eating birds. July 30, 2021 at Negri Nepote Native Grassland Preserve Photo 149013242, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

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 Ph...

Here are a couple of American Goldfinch pictures from July. The more vibrant yellow/black one is a male, while the other is a female. These guys aren't there to smell the flowers; most birds have a poor sense of smell. They're after seeds. Flowers exist to attract (mostly) insects that pollinate the plant, which should then result in seeds. Though some of these seeds end up growing more plants, some end up providing food for some of our birds. It's not unusual to see birds like goldfinches or chickadees poking around on what used to be flowers, looking to score a meal. July 23, 2021 at the Plainsboro Preserve Photo 148591673, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) July 23, 2021 at the Plainsboro Preserve Photo 148591699, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

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