English name : American Goldfinch
French name : Chardonneret jaune
Latin name : Carduelis tristis
Breadth : 23 cm
Length : 13 cm
Weight : 13 g
Small yellow bird with black skullcap. Wings and tail black with white wing bars. Short cone shaped beek which is pale in summer and dark in winter. In winter the male’s coloring resembles the female : yellow-olive or brownish. It’s wavy flight is punctuated with the cry tu-tî-tî-tou. Absent during harsh winters.
Bird Feeder for the American Goldfinch :
HABITAT
In fields, cultivated lands, along roadsides, and shrubs.
NESTING
The nest, usually placed in a vertical fork of four (4) branches, is on average between 1.2 and 4.3 m from the ground can be generally found in leafy trees (tree, shrub, bush). It is solidly constructed within four (4) or five (5) days by the female. It is composed of vegetable fibers, strips of bark, vegetable down, cotton and wool; decorated with vegetable down. Exterior diameter : 7.3 cm Height : 7.1 cm, Interior diameter : 5.1 cm Depth : 4.1 cm
Eggs, appr. five (5) : 16 x 12 mm, oval to short oval. The shell is smooth and slightly glossy, pale bluish white and without marks. Incubation is assured by the female towards the end of July and lasts approximately 12 to 14 days. The male carries the female nourishment during this time. The young chicks are born altricial. At hatching, the female stays with the nest to protect the young and the male is responsible for nourishing the entire family. The young leave the nest between 11 and 17 days after hatching. Both sexes educate their young.
Royal Alberta Museum : Eggs of Alberta
FOOD
Grains from the thistle, dandelion, alder, silver birch, and sometimes insects.
Your charter of the preferred food of your birds
MIGRATION
Southern United States and Mexico.
Websites for additional information on the American Goldfinch :
United States : Cornell Lab of Ornithology
The Museum of Civilization : Audubon, Paint, Nature and Adventure
Definition: altricial
Consult the glossary of the Canadian Wildlife and Flora Service