Around the Garden with Jay: What Is That Yellow Bird?

Summertime male American Goldfinch photo by Karen

Every time I am out front in the yard, the most popular question I get all through the summer is:

What is that beautiful yellow bird????

It is an American Goldfinch. It looks very similar to a canary but it is not. The goldfinches are so easy to spot in the summer since they are bright yellow. That is the male of course. The females are the same size and shape but lack the beautiful bright yellow and look sadly drab and grayish green. Nature at it's finest!

In spring and early summer the male finches molt their feathers (the only birds that do this twice a year) when they gain their yellow plumage and again in the late winter, when both sexes turning to their drab colors. The bright yellow is a welcoming sign of summer's onset. They are actually in my area year round but are much harder to spot and really do not like the cold temperatures. They will move south in January if temperatures go below 0 degrees.

Wintertime male photo by Karen

These birds are very active and acrobatic clinging to flowers and feeders and dining upside down! They love flower head seeds and feeders filled with nyjer seed, an Asian grown miniature seed resembling a poppy seed, filled with oily protein. They also enjoy sunflower seeds and are strictly vegans and will rarely, if ever, eat an insect.

photo by Karen

The American Goldfinch breeds later than most North American birds waiting for the flower head seeds they love to mature so their young will have adequate food supplies. The nest is an open cup of plant parts woven very tightly. The female uses spider web silk to bind the nest together and makes a fluffy lining for her eggs. It takes about 6 days to construct the nest in which both the male and female choose the site, like us usually, high in a shrub or tree. The female lays around 2 to 7 eggs, 1 or 2 times a year, incubates them for 12 to 14 days and then allows the babies to nest for 11 to 17 days.

photo by Karen

American Goldfinches are very numerous and their populations have been stable for the past 40 years. Recently in was estimated that there were over 42 million with 71% spending part if not most of the year in the U.S. In May of 2007, it was reported that the oldest finch was slightly over 10 years old.

So, next time you see these beautiful yellow birds, you'll know what they are and won't have to ask me......although I love to answer the question!!!!!!!!!!!