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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

American Goldfinch Female

I told you yesterday about the American Goldfinch. There was one thing missing from my story though. I didn't really give you any pictures of the female. We usually only think of human females as being unjustly thought of as second to the males. But what about birds?

It seems as if male birds get most of the attention. For example, male peacocks with their big beautiful tail feathers get far more attention than the females, simply because the female's tail feathers aren't as noticeable. A male downy woodpecker has a fancy bright red cap, but the female has none.

Now we have the American Goldfinch. What are the differences? The male has a dashing black Zorro mask on its head. The female has no mask, so her face is open for all to see. It's as yellow as the rest of her. The color of the female is also a bit duller, more of an olive color. She also lacks yellow shoulder bars that the male has.

Okay, enough of this! There is one thing the female has that the male lacks. She was kind enough to give me my first good pictures of a goldfinch. The pictures you see here are actually much older than the ones I showed you yesterday. I waited with these so I could give you the information about these American Goldfinches in the proper way.

I got these pictures after chasing a male goldfinch from the lake to the meadow in this nature park. I told you that story a little while ago, and I mentioned then that it was unfinished. I did get some decent pictures, but they weren't quite what I wanted. It's what happened after I lost him that made me really happy.

The male goldfinch flew to an old fallen tree, but I still couldn't get a clear shot. I thought I was going to go away with nothing again, but patiently sitting there on a high branch was another bird. It looked different than the first one. As you may have guessed, it was this female American Goldfinch.

She stayed perched on that branch the whole time, letting me take all the pictures of her that I wanted. Some might just obnoxiously say it was female vanity for the camera, but I say it was female kindness that enabled her to show me a little bit of mercy. I didn't know it was a female at the time; I only knew it was the little yellow bird I always wanted.

15 comments:

  1. She was very nice to pose for your camera, she is beautiful.

    I enjoyed your information of the goldfinches in both posts. Good post Ratty.

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  2. That is a beautiful bird! I've just learned how to tell a male from a female goldfinches. Thank you!

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  3. Nice photos - was this staged? The goldfinch sat there, pretty as can be and posed for the camera! Thanks for sharing another fine post.

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  4. I like your story. Males usually get most of the attention, but not always true in our world. That's why male bloggers seldom show their face. Am I right?

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  5. Beautiful Goldfinch. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. She is a beautiful bird. Wouldn't you know the female would be so kind to pose for you! :)

    thewheverblog.blogspot.com

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  7. You are getting some wonderful shots of these glorious little birds. I love them. This one seems to be friendly and likes all the attention. Of course she's female :)

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  8. They are some of the most endearing birds we have, I think... maybe just because I like yellow.

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  9. SquirrelQueen - These goldfinches have been some of my favorite sightings so far. I'm glad to share the information.
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    Icy BC - I just recently learned to tell the difference too. I'm glad for the knowledge.
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    Mike - There were just so many of these birds out there that this particular female didn't feel threatened by me. There were also several large branches separating us.
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    Rainfield - I guess one of these days I might show my real face, and then all of you will be frightened away. :D
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    DK Miller - Thanks for reading. I'll have more on these goldfinches in the future.
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    WHEVERgeek - The males were happy to fly around and tease me. I think she felt sorry for me. :)
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    Poetic Shutterbug - It's actually a reality that most of the more friendly animals that I have encountered have turned out to be female.
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    Sharkbytes - I like the yellow birds too. That's what initially drew me to these birds. I saw one a year ago and was simply amazed by the color.

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  10. You bird whisperer, you.
    I assume from your last post that she also is only yellow part of the time?
    She is so cute in those pictures.

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  11. What a kind and obliging little lady! I say she was checking you out too. I think you need to have a bird on your shoulder during a walk. Now that is another picture I want to see too. A giant mouse named Ratty with a bird on his shoulder.

    Hee hee hee... It's just one of those nights.

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  12. I noticed that male birds usually more features than female? Just like you said about the peacock, and now the Goldfinch. Nice one Ratty!

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  13. The goldfinch is my favorite local bird!My Mother In Law has a whole court of Goldfinches in her backyard, they are truly some of the more visually stunning birds here in N.C.

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  14. The Retired One - I'm assuming the same thing. I'm not sure though. Most information focuses on the males.
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    Julia - A big white rat with a bird on his shoulder, hiking through the forest, would be something extremely funny. I know where I could get a costume that looks just like that.
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    VanillaSeven - Even male mammals have more features than the females. A male lion has a big mane of hair. Even human males have more hair. For some odd reason we humans consider it an uglier and brutish thing for us.
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    Steve - I think these goldfinches are becoming my favorite bird too. I really love that yellow color.

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  15. Yeah, we have one or two in my neighborhood, but my "development" (I hate that word) was built upon an old dairy farm, so there are not too many trees around. We have an abundance of Bluebirds though, and that's cool!

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