American Goldfinch

General: The American Goldfinch is the state bird of New Jersey, Iowa, and Washington.

It is migratory, ranging from southern Canada to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canadian border to Mexico during the winter.

They are social birds, and will gather in large flocks while feeding and migrating. They are common visitors to birdfeeders. Often time they are overlooked or misidentified when they are in winter plumage.

American Goldfinches molt their body feathers twice a year, once in late winter and again in late summer.

American Goldfinch nest is an open cup. They typically build in a shrub or low tree in the open. The first Goldfinch nest I found was in a scraggly maple tree in the open about 12′ up in a crotch next to a suburban street

The eggs are pale blue and approximately .7″ long. The chicks hatch in about 12 – 14 days and fledge in about another 11 – 17 days.

According to Audubon, the American Goldfinch is a late breeder. This is presumably due to their diet of seeds and when the food source is available. Because they breed late in the season they typically only raise one brood.

Identification: The Goldfinch is approximately 5″. Adult males in spring and early summer are bright yellow with black forehead, black wings with white markings, and white patches both above and beneath the tail. Adult females are duller yellow beneath, olive above. Winter birds are drab, un-streaked brown, with blackish wings and two pale wing bars

Habitat: The goldfinch’s main habitats are weedy fields and grasslands where plants such as thistles and seed bearing weeds and shrubs grow. They’re also found in farmland and suburban areas.

Territory: American Goldfinches are migratory birds. In summer they can be found as far north as Nova Scotia in the east and British Columbia to the west. They migrate south to the Gulf coast states in the winter. Except for the extreme western deserts, American Goldfinches can be found throughout the contiguous states of the USA.

Diet: Goldfinches eat seeds almost exclusively. At feeders prefers nyjer and sunflower.

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

Song Sparrow – Melospiza melodia

General:

The Song Sparrow has a wide geographic range, occuring over most of North America from the Aleutians to the eastern United States. It is one of the most common of America’s sparrows. There are approximately 39 subspecies in North America and Mexico (Pyle 1997). It has a beautiful and distinctive song that is one of the most common bird calls you will hear in the summer. Like many other songbirds, the male Song Sparrow uses its song to attract mates as well as defend its territory.

Identification tips:

The song sparrow is one of the few birds with a large geographic variation in coloration and plumage. The song sparrow is approximately 5.1/2 inches long with a conical bill. It has a brown crown, grayish face and supercilium. As can be seen the song sparrow has a brown streak that extends behind eye and a thick malar streak. It typically has a brown back with darker streaks. It has brown wings with some rust and its underparts are white with heavy dark streaks with a central breast spot. The tail is long, brown and rounded. The sexes are similar. Juveniles are similar to adult but buffier.(Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter). As previously mentioned, there is considerable variation in plumage across its range from dark to rusty upperparts and in bill size and shape

Habitat:

Preferred habitat for this species is brushy areas, especially in fields, along streams and the borders of woodlands. They are common in our cities and suburban areas (Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds).

Food:

Song sparrow diets consist of seeds, fruits, and insects.

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

Dark-eyed Junco

Blue Jay – Cyanocitta cristata

General:

The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a North American jay, a bird with predominantly lavender-blue to mid-blue feathering from the top of the head to midway down the back. There is a pronounced crest on the head. The color changes to black, sky-blue and white barring on the wing primaries and the tail. The bird has an off-white underside, with a black collar around the neck and sides of the head and a white face.

Blue Jays reside over a very large area of the eastern side of North America from northeast Newfoundland to southeast Florida, western Texas and Midwestern United States, and north to central Alberta. It is mainly a bird of mixed woodland, including American beech and various oak species, but also of parks and gardens in some towns and cities. West of the Rockies, it is replaced

The voice is typical of most jays in being varied, but the most commonly recognized sound is the alarm call, which is a loud, almost gull-like scream. There is also a high-pitched jayer-jayer call that increases in speed as the bird becomes more agitated. Blue Jays will use these calls to band together to drive a predator such as a hawk away from their nest.

Blue Jays also have quiet, almost subliminal calls which they use among themselves in proximity. One of the most distinctive calls of this type is often referred to as the “rusty pump” owing to its squeaky resemblance to the sound of an old hand-operated water pump. In fact, they can make a large variety of sounds, and individuals may vary perceptibly in their calling style.

As with other blue-hued birds, the Blue Jay’s coloration is not derived by pigments, but is the result of light refraction due to the internal structure of the feathers; if a Blue Jay feather is crushed, the blue disappears as the structure is destroyed. This is referred to as structural coloration.

Identification Tips:

Blue jays are approximately 10 inches long with a black sturdy bill, blue crest and upper-parts, black eye line and breast band, grayish-white throat and underparts, bright blue wings with black bars and white patches. Typical blue jays have long blue tail with black bars and white corners. Their legs are dark.