[067] Carduelis carduelis, Goldfinch

[057] Carduelis carduelis, Goldfinch

Introduction

Carduelis carduelis, the Goldfinch, is a small bird in the Finch family, partly yellow-gold in colour, which is common and widespread throughout the UK and often seen in gardens.

There are three other closely related species of small birds found in America which have come to be known as goldfinches so in some circumstances it is called the European Goldfinch.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Aves (Birds)

Order – Passeriformes (Perching birds or Song Birds)

Family – Fringillidae (Finches)

Subfamily – Carduelinae

Genus – Carduelis

Scientific Name – Carduelis carduelis

Name

It is far from being completely yellow but it a striking colour and it’s the only British finch with such markings so it was named from the gold colour. Carduelis is the Latin for goldfinch, coming from carduus, a wild thistle or artichoke.

Description

As we have seen with many areas of taxonomy, the Finch family has recently been reorganized and restructured following DNA analysis. It now has three subfamilies and almost all species are in the subfamily Carduelinae, which has 49 genera.

The genus Carduelis now has three species. The other two do not look like the Goldfinch.

Carduelis carduelis has about fifteen varieties, which are not called subspecies because they overlap and merge at their borders. Those that we see in Britain have a striking appearance with dark red, white and black stripes on the head. Its back is a buff brown, and the wings are black and white with yellow markings.

Habitat

Goldfinch are native to Europe and surrounding areas and have been introduced in other countries – Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and most of America.

It prefers open areas of the countryside but is now common in urban locations. Like all finches they feed on seeds and grains. They prefer small seeds from plants like thistles and teasels.

They are one of the birds often attracted to birdfeeders.  They are known to like Nigella seed, which is much smaller than normal birdseed and needs special birdfeeders. But when this is not provided they will happily eat other seeds.

(The other bird sharing the feeders above is another much less common finch, the Siskin, Spinus spinus, formerly Carduelis spinus.)

The chicks have the same black and gold markings on the wings and tail but lack the distinctive face colours. The head and body are mottled brown.

Other Notes

In recent years the Goldfinch seems to have become more accustomed to towns. I now see (and hear) far more Goldfinch from my home and surrounding areas than Sparrows.

See also

There are many birds in the Finch family, not all called finches. Those that are seen in the UK include [291] the Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Redpolls, Crossbills, Siskin, Hawfinch and the Chaffinch. The Chaffinch is by far the most common of these.