Lesser Goldfinch
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| iLesser Goldfinch | ||||||||||||||
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 Male Lesser Goldfinch
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| Carduelis psaltria (Say, 1823) |
The Lesser or Dark-backed Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria) is a very small songbird of the Americas.
It ranges from the southwestern United States (near the coast, as far north as extreme southwestern Washington) to Venezuela and Peru. It migrates from the colder parts of its U.S. range. It occurs in almost any habitat with trees or shrubs except for dense forest and is common and conspicuous in many areas, often coming near houses. It is common at feeders in the Southwest United States and will come almost anywhere with thistle sock feeders. Flocks of at least six birds will often be seen at feeders.
At 10–11 cm (4–4.5 inches) long and about 9.5 g (0.3 oz) in weight, it is the smallest North American Carduelis species. Males are easily recognized by their bright yellow underparts and big white patches in the tail (outer rectrices) and on the wings (the base of the primaries). Males in most of the range have solid black upperparts, but those of the subspecies hesperophilus, in the far western U.S. and northwestern Mexico, have olive-green napes and backs. Both green-backed and black-backed ("Arkansas Goldfinch", subspecies psaltria) males occur in Colorado and New Mexico, as do intergrades, and only black-backed males occur in southwestern Texas and most of Mexico. Males of the subspecies colombianus, east and south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, are richer yellow below.
Females' and immatures' upperparts are more or less grayish olive-green; their underparts are yellowish, buffier in immatures. They have only a narrow strip of white on the wings (with other white markings in some forms) and little or no white on the tail. They are best distinguished from other members of the genus by the combination of small size, upperparts without white or yellow, and dark gray bill. In all plumages this bird can easily be taken for a New World warbler if the typical finch bill isn't seen well.
Like other goldfinches, it has an undulating flight in which it frequently gives a call: in this case, a harsh chig chig chig [Sibley]. Another distinctive call is a very high-pitched, drawn-out whistle, often rising from one level pitch to another (teeeyeee) or falling (teeeyooo). The song is a prolonged warble or twitter, more phrased that that of the American Goldfinch [Peterson], often incorporating imitations of other species.
The Lesser Goldfinch often occurs in flocks or at least loose associations. It feeds mostly on tree buds and weed seeds. It lays three or four bluish white eggs in a cup nest made of fine plant materials such as lichens, rootlets, and strips of bark, placed in a bush or at low or middle levels in a tree.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Carduelis psaltria. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Howell, Steve N. G., and Sophie Webb (1994). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854012-4.
- Peterson, Roger Tory (1990). Western Birds. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-51424-X.
- Sibley, David (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-45122-6.
