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Bird Sounds: American Goldfinch

An American Goldfinch and her nestling.

Photo Credit
Photo by Thinkstock

American Goldfinch Calls

Tom Warren
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The bright yellow goldfinch is one welcome sign of spring. These small birds love to visit the birdfeeder, especially to eat sunflower and nyjer seed. They have a bouncy way of flying during which they often make their po-ta-to-chip calls. Learn more and listen to their distinct birdsong.

American Goldfinches are known for their bright yellow color, however, they molt in later winter as well as late summer, so the bright yellow color emerges in early spring—and an easy way to mark the season! The males have a bright yellow body with black forehead, black wings with white markings. Adult females are duller yellow beneath, olive above. 

They are truly vegetarian birds and only eat seed, especially from the Asteraceae family: sunflowers, thistle, asters, etc. The males sing exuberantly during spring, however, the birds nest much later than most of their peers—once their beloved thistles and milkweeds have gone to seed. They use the material from the seedbeds to build their nests!

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If you’d like to attract the American goldfinch, include milkweed and thistle in your landscape! It’s fun to watch them balance on the seedbeds to pluck out the seeds. They’ll also eat the seeds that fall below feeders, but try to keep the ground well raked because these birds can get contagious diseases.

Have you heard an American Goldfinch? Add your comments below. Be sure to let us know where you live or where you’ve heard this bird sound before!

Click here to listen to the sounds of other birds, compliments of The Macaulay Library at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Bird Sounds
About The Author

Tom Warren

Tom Warren is a lifelong bird enthusiast. Tom is also committed to protecting birds and their habitat as a Trustee for both Massachusetts and New Hampshire Audubon, and the Harris Nature Center. Read More from Tom Warren

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Comments

jamie (not verified)

2 years 6 months ago

hear and see them all the time around fostoria,ohio really enjoy them.

Donald Montgomery (not verified)

4 years 5 months ago

Such a lovely little bird. I counted 19 of them feeding off the Niger seed feeders last summer. The do love to forage from the seed heads of many wild flowers. They especially love the seeds of the Purple Cone Flowers.

Anne (not verified)

2 years 6 months ago

Nice; I will plant some Purple Cone Flowers with my annual Sunflowers;

Deborah Ortega (not verified)

5 years 8 months ago

I live in Westminster Colorado and I see the American Goldfinch in my yard. I grow a lot of sunflowers and they love the seeds. It is funny to see them hanging up side down eating the seeds out of the sunflowers. I guess that is why they are so yellow from the food they eat.

Laura Fernandes (not verified)

7 years 5 months ago

These little birds are beautiful and fun to watch. We live 1 hour north of Toronto, in Aurora, ON, and this spring we have a mated pair coming to our feeder every day. We have the feeder right near the bedroom window, and always leave it open a bit. This way, I can take videos/ pics, and can also tell by their distinctive 'sqeek' and song, that they're around, even when I'm not watching, especially in the morning. Beautiful little songbirds to watch. One of our favourites for sure.

Colleen (not verified)

8 years 5 months ago

I let the weeds grow in my yard where possible and am rewarded with flocks of these little beauties, I see other birds with them eating weeds too, like my first sightings of a blue grosbeak and an indigo bunting. They love perching on thin border fences (cheap metal type) and other thin things (like honeysuckle vines).

Larry B Jacobs (not verified)

10 years 4 months ago

When I was trying to play the bird sounds on my cell phone they would not play. thinking I had a problem with my phone I took it in to a tech. He told me they did not play because of the format you use. He said you need to have a MP3 format to play the sounds on a cell phone. I was wondering if your web techs could possibly change the format over so we can hear the sounds on our cell phones.

Thank you
Larry

Dawn Thomson (not verified)

11 years 5 months ago

My son found a fledgling that the neighbor dog was going to eat. I wasn't sure what to feed it & researched many baby bird "formulas" before developing my own. Our baby loves this recipe! First, make oatmeal powder by adding 1/2 c oats to the blender. Grind until you have a fine powder. Do this until you have made a few cups. Next, you will need to add 1 Tbsp Natural Unsweetened Applesauce, 6 raw egg yolks, 4 tsp water, and 2 tsp Hartz milk replacer for kittens in the blender on low. Mix well, adding one tsp of the oatmeal powder at a time to thicken the mixture(Approx. 16 tsp). Let stand for 5 min. It can be refrigerated & we warm it by putting a spoonful in a small cup, and then place the cup in a dish with very hot water & feed with an eyedropper. We usually play the finch song before feeding to stimulate the fledgling. It's VERY effective!

i also found a fledgling by my house i didn't know what to feed it so i crushed up some worms but he bit me instead he died the next day.

lorraine cupples (not verified)

11 years 8 months ago

I have a website about finches and other birds and virtual pets along with videos of finches and a few seagulls. I live in florida so my realistic seagull calls made me add seagulls to the site. The website is www.finchland.webs.com