American Goldfinch

Carduelis tristis

During the breeding season, these widespread finches occupy rural areas, especially fallow, weedy fields interspersed with brushy thickets. They are prevalent in weedy margins of wetlands and brushy borders of farmsteads and forests. Small parcels such as fence rows, roadside ditches and even small forest openings are suitable if brushy cover is present. Goldfinches construct a thick-walled cup nest in an upright fork of a shrub or small sapling at a height of 1-3 meters above the ground (Peck and James 1987).

American Goldfinches typically initiate breeding in July or August, the latest of any North American passerine (Peterjohn and Rice 1991). The comparatively late nesting of this species appears to be correlated with the maturation of thistles, which provide seeds for food and down for nesting material (Harrison 1975).

Code Frequency

American Goldfinches are easy to detect and, therefore, where not located in a block, they presumably occurred in extremely low numbers or were not present. Their distinctive twittering usually attracts attention first, and they are often then seen passing overhead in characteristic undulating flight. Because flying birds are often observed in pairs, Atlasers were able to easily elevate them to the probable breeding level.

Breeding confirmations, however, were difficult to observe. Apparently Atlasers were rarely successful in their attempts to follow the movements of goldfinches suspected of nesting. Perhaps the bulk of the surveying effort was conducted too early in the season to confirm this unusually late-nesting species. Considering these limitations, American Goldfinches presumably bred in most blocks in which they were found.

Average Number of Birds / 100 stops

Distribution

American Goldfinches were recorded statewide. Their only region of scarcity was in the Mississippi Lowlands where extensively tilled lands and lack of brushy, weedy fields offer few potential nest sites. Atlasers obtained only possible breeding evidence in many adjacent blocks in the lower Ozarks, perhaps because American Goldfinches rarely breed in its extensive forests which have little brush and edge habitat. Another region of fewer probable and confirmed breeding records was centered on Shelby County in northeastern Missouri, which has much favorable habitat. Reasons for the lower detection rate are unknown. Perhaps the cursory coverage that region received via Block-Busting and other single-weekend surveys, combined with late-season nesting of the species, resulted in reduced detections.

Abundance

American Goldfinches were recorded as most abundant in the Glaciated Plains and Osage Plains natural divisions. This concurs with Robbins and Easterla (1992) who reported on BBS data. Goldfinches also appeared nearly as abundant in the Ozark Border and Ozark natural divisions. As expected from the distributional map, they were least abundant in the Mississippi Lowlands.

Phenology

In Ohio, pair formation continues into June but most goldfinches do not initiate nesting until after July 15 (Nice 1939). Atlasers observed confirmed breeding evidence unexpectedly early in comparison. A nest building record on May 27 was three days earlier than the earliest record

Reported in Ohio. A nest containing hatched young, recorded on June 8, was even more remarkable. Middleton (1993) reported a few early nests with Eggs: in May and early June; however, nesting peaks for this species in the second half of July and continues into September. Paul McKenzie, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, suggested in editorial review that earlier nesting may be a response to earlier-maturing, exotic thistles that are now more abundant and may provide an early source of nesting material. The Atlas Project's latest nest with Eggs: was observed on August 29. Nesting events likely continued but were not reported as Atlasers were asked to conclude their field survey by September 15.

Notes

Although American Goldfinches are common Brown-headed Cowbird hosts (Ehrlich et al. 1988), Atlasers did not document any parasitism during the project.

Breeding Evidence

Reported in 1,103 (91.4%) of 1,207 blocks

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