{"id":140506,"date":"2025-02-22T02:37:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T08:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=140506"},"modified":"2025-07-07T11:55:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T16:55:55","slug":"winter-male-american-goldfinch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/02\/22\/winter-male-american-goldfinch\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Male American Goldfinch"},"content":{"rendered":"

This male American Goldfinch caught my eye after the recent snowstorm here in Arkansas. Why? Because he’s starting to molt into his breeding plumage.<\/p>\n

\"WinterWinter male American Goldfinch starting to get his breeding plumage \u2013 Canon R7, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 800, +1.3 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The male goldfinch is starting to show black in his forehead and he is showing more yellow on his chin and face than male goldfinches were showing just a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

American Goldfinches, unlike other members of the finch family, molt twice a year, in spring and in the fall.<\/p>\n

It seems a bit early to me to see one of these male goldfinches already starting to molt, but I’m in a new part of the country and learning a new nature cycle for my bird and animal subjects.<\/p>\n

Last year, during the nesting season of American Goldfinches, I didn\u2019t see them at all. Back in Utah, I only saw them up in the mountains during their breeding season.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the same here, just a matter of them being in the right nesting habitat at the right time. The Ozark Mountains aren\u2019t very far from here, after all, and these finches breed late in the season. I’ll have to figure that out.<\/p>\n

I’ve been enjoying seeing, hearing<\/span><\/a>, and photographing the American Goldfinches that visit the feeders here this winter. Their soft calls always make me smile.<\/p>\n

Mornings are still very chilly here, which means I get to see these finches come to the sunflower seed feeder not long after dawn. They need the calories to help keep them warm.<\/p>\n

Next week, the weather warms up, I\u2019m looking forward to that.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Goldfinch photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This male American Goldfinch caught my eye after the recent snowstorm here in Arkansas. Why? Because he’s starting to molt into his breeding plumage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2715,13950,27,13951],"tags":[2716,13981,3504,3495,13931,6198,6199,4062,2312,4246,4104,16014,4050,4328,2717,15824,373,13966],"class_list":["post-140506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-goldfinches","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-sebastian-county","tag-american-goldfinch","tag-feeder","tag-finch","tag-finches","tag-garden","tag-goldfinch","tag-goldfinches","tag-male","tag-molt","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-perched","tag-shepherds-hook","tag-snow","tag-snowy","tag-spinus-tristis","tag-suburban","tag-winter","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-goldfinch-male-molt-mia-mcpherson-4125.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Aye","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":137134,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/18\/american-goldfinch-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":140506,"position":0},"title":"American Goldfinch In Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, I photographed my first American Goldfinch here in Arkansas. The beautiful goldfinch unexpectedly landed over the feeder and surprised me.","rel":"","context":"In "American Goldfinches"","block_context":{"text":"American Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Goldfinch in nonbreeding plumage in Arkansas, Sebastian County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-goldfinch-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-7944.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-goldfinch-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-7944.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-goldfinch-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-7944.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The heavy snowpack is still making it impossible for me to get into the mountains to photograph birds like this male American Goldfinch in breeding plumage.","rel":"","context":"In "American Goldfinches"","block_context":{"text":"American Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male American Goldfinch in spring, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/american-goldfinch-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-6366.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/american-goldfinch-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-6366.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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