American Goldfinch Images, Facts and Information:
Spinus tristis
- American Goldfinches are small finches with small heads, conical bills, short notched tails and long wings. Males in breeding plumage are bright yellow with black foreheads, black wings with bold white patterns. Females are much duller. During the winter American Goldfinches are drab with hints of yellow on their heads and flanks.
- American Goldfinches molt twice a year, the only member in their family to molt in the spring.
- American Goldfinches are migratory.
- Their diet consists almost entirely of seeds and they prefer hanging onto the seed heads to feeding on the ground.
- American Goldfinch habitat includes brushy thickets, weedy fields, grasslands and floodplains. They are also quite common in suburbs, parks and backyards.
- American Goldfinches lay 4 to 6 eggs which hatch in 10 to 12 days. The female incubates and they are monogamous.
- American Goldfinches have also been called “eastern goldfinches” and “lightning birds”.
- A group of goldfinches can be called a “charm”, “rush”, “treasury” or “vein” of goldfinches.
- The oldest known goldfinch was nearly 11 years old.
I hope that you enjoy viewing my American Goldfinch photos.
American Goldfinch hanging upside down to feed on wild sunflower seeds
Title: American Goldfinch hanging upside down to feed on wild sunflower seeds
Location: Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah
Date: 11/13/2019
American Goldfinch perched in a wild rose bush
Title: American Goldfinch perched in a wild rose bush
Location: Box Elder County, Utah
Date: 11/5/2019
American Goldfinch male lifting off
Title: American Goldfinch male lifting off
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 8/1/2019
American Goldfinch and rose hips
Title: American Goldfinch and rose hips
Location: Box Elder County, Utah
Date: 11/18/2018
Molting American Goldfinch eating a Musk Thistle seed
Title: Molting American Goldfinch eating a Musk Thistle seed
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 8/14/2018
Molting American Goldfinch perched on a Musk Thistle
Title: Molting American Goldfinch perched on a Musk Thistle
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 8/14/2018
Male American Goldfinch lifting off
Title: Male American Goldfinch lifting off
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 8/7/2018
Female American Goldfinch lifting off
Title: Female American Goldfinch lifting off
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 8/7/2018
Male American Goldfinch perched on a dried Musk Thistle blossom
Title: Male American Goldfinch perched on a dried Musk Thistle blossom
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah
Date: 7/26/2018
American Goldfinch perched on a Musk Thistle
Title: American Goldfinch perched on a Musk Thistle
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah
Date: 7/6/2018
Musk Thistle and American Goldfinch
Title: Musk Thistle and American Goldfinch
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah
Date: 7/6/2018
American Goldfinch feeding on thistle seeds
Title: American Goldfinch feeding on thistle seeds
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah
Date: 7/6/2018
American Goldfinch singing on top of Musk Thistle
Title: American Goldfinch singing on top of Musk Thistle
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah
Date: 7/6/2018
American Goldfinch with flying thistle fluff
Title: American Goldfinch with flying thistle fluff
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah
Date: 7/6/2018
American Goldfinch with falling thistle fluff
Title: American Goldfinch with falling thistle fluff
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah
Date: 7/6/2018
American Goldfinch male in breeding plumage on a Musk Thistle
Title: American Goldfinch male in breeding plumage on a Musk Thistle
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah
Date: 7/6/2018
Female American Goldfinch in dandelions
Title: Female American Goldfinch in dandelions
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 5/24/2018
Female American Goldfinch eating dandelion seeds
Title: Female American Goldfinch eating dandelion seeds
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 5/24/2018
Male American Goldfinch eating dandelion seeds
Title: Male American Goldfinch eating dandelion seeds
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 5/24/2018
American Goldfinch male perched on a fence
Title: American Goldfinch male perched on a fence
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 5/24/2018