American goldfinch
Carduelis tristis
Identification Tips:
- Length: 4.25 inches
- Small, seed-eating bird
- Short, conical bill
- Short, forked tail
Male alternate:
- Plumage held in Spring and Summer
- Black forehead
- Yellow head, back, breast and belly
- Black wings and tail
- White wing bars and tertial edges
- White rump and undertail coverts
- Pale bill and legs
Female alternate:
- Greenish upperparts
- Yellow underparts
- Pale bill and legs
Basic:
- Plumage held in Fall and Winter
- Yellow face
- Brownish-olive upperparts
- Whitish underparts
- Blackish wings with pale wing bars
Smilar species:
The male American Goldfinch in alternate plumage is quite distinctive.
Female Lesser Goldfinch is similar to female and immature American Goldfinch
but is greener above and has a white patch in the wing.
Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.