{"id":74982,"date":"2020-10-29T05:41:20","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T11:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=74982"},"modified":"2023-09-27T15:46:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T21:46:58","slug":"male-lesser-goldfinches-and-common-sunflower-seeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/29\/male-lesser-goldfinches-and-common-sunflower-seeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Lesser Goldfinches And Common Sunflower Seeds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LesserLesser Goldfinch male eating wild sunflower seeds \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I see American Goldfinches far more often than I do Lesser Goldfinches in the field so when I have the opportunity to photograph the smaller of the two species I jump at the chance. Yesterday opportunity knocked when several Lesser Goldfinches flew in to knosh on wild sunflowers seeds near a road at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult male Lesser Goldfinch in autumn \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

There were male and female Lesser Goldfinches along with American Goldfinches and White-crowned Sparrows in the small mixed flock of birds foraging for the ripe seeds of the sunflowers. The female Lesser Goldfinches didn’t come out into the open like the males did so I focused on the more colorful males.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Lesser Goldfinch eating Common Sunflower seeds \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The plumage of the male Lesser Goldfinches was brighter yellow and more eye catching than the feathers of the females and the duller winter plumage of their larger relatives, the American Goldfinches.<\/p>\n

\"AutumnAutumn male Lesser Goldfinch \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Clumps of our native sunflowers much like the rabbitbrush I mentioned in yesterdays post<\/span><\/a> are places I look for small birds after the seeds ripen and yesterday having that knowledge paid off once again.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Lesser Goldfinch lifting off \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The small mixed flock of finches and sparrows were flushed by something I couldn’t see and when they all flew off they took refuge in a nearby conifer. I’m simply happy that I had them in my viewfinder for as long as I did.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Yesterday opportunity knocked when several Lesser Goldfinches flew in to knosh on wild sunflowers seeds near a road at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116365,"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":[27,1022,697,7795,26],"tags":[4004,970,10574,4286,4620,3504,3495,6198,6199,6028,7798,4282,4944,4062,7554,2135,7796,105,3792,5428],"class_list":["post-74982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-lesser-goldfinches","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-common-sunflowers","tag-eating","tag-fall","tag-finch","tag-finches","tag-goldfinch","tag-goldfinches","tag-helianthus-annuus","tag-lesser-goldfinch","tag-lift-off","tag-lifting-off","tag-male","tag-seed","tag-seeds","tag-spinus-psaltria","tag-sunflowers","tag-take-off","tag-taking-off"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lesser-goldfinch-male-sunflowers-mia-mcpherson-9714.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jvo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":115800,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/11\/one-chonky-american-goldfinch\/","url_meta":{"origin":74982,"position":0},"title":"One Chonky American Goldfinch","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was at Farmington Bay WMA last week, I had a chonky American Goldfinch fly in and land on a greasewood in front of me. Of course, I took photos of it.","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":"Chonky American Goldfinch, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":117113,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/17\/male-lesser-goldfinch-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":74982,"position":1},"title":"Male Lesser Goldfinch Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thrilled to take several male Lesser Goldfinch images on my last trip to Farmington Bay WMA. It was a bright, sunny day, and I was enjoying it and myself.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Lesser Goldfinch perched on a greasewood, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lesser-goldfinch-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-4279.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lesser-goldfinch-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-4279.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lesser-goldfinch-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-4279.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-3689.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-3689.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-3689.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-3689.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60573,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/29\/lesser-goldfinch-perched-on-greasewood-at-farmington-bay-wma\/","url_meta":{"origin":74982,"position":3},"title":"Lesser Goldfinch Perched on Greasewood At Farmington Bay WMA","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Until three days ago I really haven't taken any decent images of Lesser Goldfinches that weren't at bird feeders but that changed when this one landed on a greasewood in front of me at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lesser Goldfinch perched on Greasewood, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lesser-goldfinch-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-0001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lesser-goldfinch-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-0001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Goldfinch hanging upside down to feed on wild sunflower seeds, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-sunflowers-feeding-mia-mcpherson-1347.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-sunflowers-feeding-mia-mcpherson-1347.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-sunflowers-feeding-mia-mcpherson-1347.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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