I was thrilled today to see the brilliant yellow color of the American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)—it almost looked like they had gotten dressed-up for Easter yesterday.
Although range maps indicate that American Goldfinches are in our area year-round, I haven’t seen one in a really long time. There is still not much vegetation on the trees and bushes, so the bright color of the goldfinches stood out. However, the goldfinches spent almost all of their time in the center of bushes and it was hard to get an unobstructed shot.
I am looking forward to more and more bright colors as we move deeper into spring. (I probably should mention that I drive an orange-colored car, which may say something about my attitude toward bright colors.)
Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Great photos and very interesting informational. Will you put your collection together and publish at some point? I would certainly encourage you to do it.
Thanks for the encouragement. I’m still at the stage where I am trying to improve my skills, but it would be fun to put together a little collection some day.
I love these birds too, but haven’t seen one all winter here.
The goldfinches aren’t yellow in the winter. The brown wears off and the yellow’s underneath.
[…] American Goldfinch (michaelqpowell.wordpress.com) […]