Lesser Goldfinch
Spinus psaltria · Finches, Euphonias, and Allies
Banding codeLEGO
Keys to identifying it
1Size & shape
About 4 in long.
2Color pattern
- Tiny; male bright yellow below with black cap
- Green or dark back with white wing patches
- Female plain olive-yellow
3Habitat & season
Yards, feeders, riparian woods, scrub oak
In northern Utah: year-round.
Seen most often in October.
Share of the region’s research-grade iNaturalist bird observations each month, scaled to this bird’s peak. Highlighted bars are its peak months.
4Voice
Plaintive descending whistles; a jumbled song full of imitations.
“tee-yee (sliding down)”
iNat 269766526 by Anne Parsons · Ed R. Levin County Park, CA, USA · CC0
Know it
- Weaves imitations of other birds' calls into its song.
- A regular at sunflower and nyjer feeders along the Wasatch Front.
- One of the smallest finches in North America.
Often confused with
American Goldfinch
Western Tanager
Pine SiskinFrom iNaturalist identification data for northern Utah.
From Wikipedia
The lesser goldfinch is a small finch in the genus Spinus native to the Americas.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0