# 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.

- **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.

## About

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 .

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/8df5e13f-dd4b-438b-923d-c71e71276708
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/145308
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinus psaltria
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/106254385/medium.jpeg (David Anderson, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.