Lesser Goldfinch
Spinus psaltria
Lesser Goldfinches are talented mimics, often incorporating the songs and calls of over 50 other bird species into their own melodies.
- Scientific name
- Spinus psaltria
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Fringillidae › Spinus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Scrubland, open oak woodlands, suburban gardens, and weedy fields.
- Diet
- Granivorous; primarily seeds from the sunflower family, thistles, and occasional small insects.
- Range
- Western United States, Mexico, Central America, Northwestern South America
- Size
- 9-12 cm in length; 8-11 grams in weight
- Lifespan
- 5-7 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Predation by domestic cats, window collisions, and loss of native seed-bearing plants.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and delightful to observe. Maintain a respectful distance to avoid flushing them from feeders. To help, provide clean water and nyjer seeds, and keep cats indoors.
The lesser goldfinch ( Spinus psaltria ) is a very small songbird of the Americas. Together with its relatives the American goldfinch and Lawrence's goldfinch, it forms the American goldfinches clade in the genus Spinus sensu stricto .
Photo: David Anderson, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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