Willow Goldfinch Bird

Facts about Willow goldfinch bird. "Willow goldfinch bird scientific name is Spinus tristis". Willow goldfinch bird is a small bird that belongs to the Spinus genus of the Fringillidae family. The Willow goldfinch bird are native to North America and they are also commonly called as the American goldfinch and the eastern goldfinch. Willow goldfinch bird is a migratory bird that moves from mid-Alberta to the northern part of Carolina during its breeding season, and moves from the southern parts of the Canadian edge to Mexico during the winter season. The Willow Goldfinch is the state bird of New Jersey, Iowa, and Washington.

Features of Willow goldfinch bird

The Willow Goldfinch is a small bird that has a body length, ranging from 4 5/16 inches to 5 1/2 inches (11 cm to 14 cm), with a wingspan between 7 1/2 inches and 8 3/4 inches (19 cm and 22 cm). A matured Willow goldfinch bird will have a body weight between 0.39 oz and 0.71 oz (11 grams and 20 grams). Among normal measurements, the Willow goldfinch bird’s wing chord is 2 5/8 inches to 3 1/8 inches (6.5 cm to 7.8 cm), the culmen is 3/8 inches to 7/16 inches (0.9 cm to 1.1 cm), the tail is 1 3/4 inches to 2 inches (4.2 cm to 5.1 cm), and the tarsus is 15/32 inches to 9/16 inches (1.2 to 1.4 cm).

The beak of the Willow Goldfinch bird is conical, small, and pink in color for the majority of the year, but it will become bright orange color during the spring molt in both male and female birds. The size and shape of the beak of the Willow goldfinch bird assist in the removal of seeds from the seed heads of sunflowers, thistles, and other plants.

The solitary finch in the subfamily that experiences a total molt is the Willow goldfinch bird, which displays sexual difference in its coloration. The male bird looks with a vibrant yellow body during the summer season and an olive color body during the winter season, whereas the female bird appears with a dull yellow-tan shade that brightens only faintly during the summer season. The male Willow goldfinch bird displays brilliantly colored plumage to magnetize a mate during the breeding season.

Generally, human activity has benefited the Willow goldfinch bird. It is regularly found in housing areas, magnetized to bird feeders that boost the survival rate of the Willow Goldfinch in these areas. Deforestation as well, generates open field areas that are the preferred habitat of the Willow Goldfinch birds.

Diet of Willow goldfinch bird

The Willow Goldfinch bird feeds on both animals and plants. It mainly feeds on the seeds from an extensive variety of yearly plants, frequently those of trees and weed grasses, like teasel, thistle, dandelion, mullein, ragweed, cosmos, sunflower, goatsbeard and alder.

Behavior of Willow goldfinch bird

The Willow Goldfinch bird is a Seed predator and tailored for the feeding of the heads of the seed, with a conical-shaped beak to eliminate the seeds and nimble feet to hold the stems of seedheads during feeding. It is a communal bird, and will collect in huge groups while migrating and feeding. The Willow goldfinch bird may act territorial during the construction of its nest, but this violence will last only for a short time. The breeding season of the Willow Goldfinch bird is attached to the peak of food delivery, commencing during late July, which is fairly late in the year, intended for a finch. Generally, the bird variety is monogamous, and makes one brood every year.

The average lifespan of the Willow Goldfinch bird is 9 years.