American Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Spinus tristis
Aves
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
3-6 yrs
Size
Small
Diet
Herbivore
Activity
Diurnal
Social
Flock
Biome
Temperate grassland
Range
North America
Movement
Flight
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Speed
Status
Common

About

A small migratory finch of North America, the male in summer is brilliant lemon-yellow with a jet-black cap and wings. Goldfinches are strict vegetarians among songbirds, feeding their nestlings almost exclusively on regurgitated seeds.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    egg
    A small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
  2. 2.
    hatchling
    A pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
  3. 3.
    juvenile
    A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
  4. 4.
    adult
    Fully grown with adult plumage and song.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Fringillidae
Genus
Spinus
Species
Spinus tristis