American Goldfinch

I have a triumphant new set of pictures for you! Some of you may remember awhile ago when I came upon a little yellow bird at the back of one of my nature parks. I found out a short time later that the bird was an American Goldfinch. I was amazed to see a bird in my area that had that bright yellow color. But I didn't think I'd ever see any more very soon.

Then about a month later I saw even more of them. I chased them through that same back area of the park until I found one waiting on a tree. I quickly got several pictures until it flew away. There was actually more to that story than I told you back then. I'll finish it for you very soon. It really does have an exciting ending.

Today though I have my ultimate prize! At the very front of the same park, when I thought my adventures for the day were over, I got my best pictures ever of an American Goldfinch! I'm obviously going to share some of those with you now, but I also have some interesting information about these birds for you! I'm excited! You're excited! It's like a little yellow party!

The American Goldfinch is a small bird with a bright yellow body, with a black cap that covers the top of its head down to its eyes. It also has black wings streaked with white and a black tail. The underside of its tail is white. This bird can be found throughout most of the United states all year long.

It can also be found in the southern part of Canada, but usually only in the summer. Similarly it can be found to the south of the United States, but it will fly north in the summer. The bright yellow color of this bird is only seen in breeding season. It is a much duller color in non-breeding season. This is a very dull light brown or gray, and with a much less evident black cap. It regains the bright yellow after a complete molt of its feathers.

The best place to see these birds is a meadow atop tall flowers and other tall plants. They love eating the seeds from these plants right there on top of the plant. They will eat from sunflower seeds and thistle from a feeder. I've also seen them in other areas with tall flowers.

The nesting season of these monogamous birds is usually from July to August. They build a nest of a neatly formed bowl of grass, strips of bark, and other soft plant material in a small shrub or sapling. The female lays four to six pale blue to white eggs. The female exclusively does the work of incubation, which usually takes between ten to twelve days. The male brings food to her while she sits on the eggs.

My pictures here show their feeding behavior in action. When I took these pictures the weeds had grown very tall in the parking lot of the nature park, where I found these birds. The weeds have been cut down since I took the pictures, so I won't be getting an more of these this year.

The good news is that I still see these birds in other areas of the park, and I also have seen them roaming around flower gardens closer to home. So these birds are still doing very well around here. I also have a few plans to be able to get better bird pictures in the future, and I hope I can do it before winter hits.

That's it for this post about the American Goldfinch. I still have more to say about these birds in the future, so stay tuned. And I'll of course be back tomorrow with more exciting stories from The Everyday Adventurer!