American Goldfinch – Spinus tristis
Length: 5″; Wingspan: 9″; Weight: 0.46 oz.
This small finch is commonly found in flocks on Seabrook Island during the winter months (November – March) on backyard feeders, along the golf courses or anywhere there are weed seeds. It has a sharply pointed bill, a small head, long wings and a short, notched tail.
Those of you who are familiar with this bird during breeding season (when the male has a bright yellow body and black cap, wings and tail), may not recognize them in their winter plumage. The winter male has olive-gray to olive-brown upper parts, paler underparts, yellow shoulder bar, white wing bar, dark conical bill and may show black on its forehead and yellow on its throat and face. The winter female is duller with buff wing and shoulder bars and lacks yellow and black on the face and head. This drastic change in plumage is a result of the American Goldfinch, the only member of its family, having two complete molts each year, one in the fall and one in the spring.
American Goldfinches are among the strictest vegetarians in the bird world only inadvertently swallowing an occasional insect. It feeds primarily on seeds, including seeds from composite plants (sunflowers, thistle, asters, etc), grasses and trees. At feeders they favor nyjer and sunflower seeds (hulled). In both situations it prefers to hang onto seed heads or feeders rather than feeding on the ground.
American Goldfinches are often described as active and acrobatic. They are also easily identified by their undulating flight pattern of several rapid wing beats and then a pause. Listen for their flight song while they are flapping, which sounds like po-ta-to-chip.
A group of goldfinches has many collective nouns, including a “007”, “charm”, “rush”, “treasury” and “vein” of goldfinches.
Keep an eye out for the American Goldfinch, as they will be leaving soon to head north to breed and will return when the weather up north gets cold again next fall. (See the range map following the photographs below.)
If you would like to learn more about this bird visit The Cornell Lab of Ornithology – All About Birders: American Goldfinch and Birds of Seabrook Island: American Goldfinch
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