Bird Profile
Lesser Goldfinch
The small yellow finch that stays yellow all winter. In much of the West it is the default finch at the feeder, and it is not the bird most guides train you to expect.
The short answer
- It is the smallest goldfinch in North America, noticeably smaller than an American Goldfinch and less than half its weight.
- Males stay bright yellow below all year and never go drab, which is the fastest way to separate them from American Goldfinches in winter.
- Two forms occur: green-backed birds in California, Oregon and the Great Basin, and black-backed birds through Texas, eastern Colorado and much of the Southwest.
- Nyjer and sunflower chips are the two foods that work. They will use the same feeders as American Goldfinches, and the ports do not need to be smaller.
- Water pulls them in as reliably as seed. A shallow moving-water bath is often the busiest thing in a dry western yard.
At a glance
- Scientific name
- Spinus psaltria
- Length
- 3.5 to 4.3 in (9 to 11 cm)
- Wingspan
- 5.9 to 7.9 in (15 to 20 cm)
- Weight
- 0.3 to 0.4 oz (8 to 11.5 g)
- Range
- Pacific states, Great Basin, Southwest and Texas, south to South America.
- Favorite foods
- Nyjer, sunflower chips, weed and thistle seed
- Best feeder
- Nyjer tube, mesh finch feeder, small-port sunflower chip tube
- At feeders
- Year-round across most of its US range, in flocks of 5 to 50
The Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) is a very small finch of the West, about 4 inches (10 cm) long and weighing roughly a third of an ounce (10 g). Males have a black cap, bright lemon-yellow underparts, a dark back that is either olive-green or glossy black depending on where you live, and a small white flash at the base of the primaries. Females are plain olive above and dull yellow below.
Across California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and much of the interior West this is the goldfinch people actually see at the feeder, and the American Goldfinch is the occasional visitor rather than the other way around. Most beginner bird guides are written the opposite way around.
This profile covers how to separate it from the American Goldfinch and from siskins and House Finches, the two back-color forms, the feeders and seeds that work, and why water matters as much as food in dry country.
How to identify a Lesser Goldfinch#
The male is straightforward once you have seen one. A neat black cap sits on the forehead and crown, the throat and entire underside are strong yellow, and the back is dark. The wings are black with a white patch at the base of the flight feathers that shows as a bright spot in flight, plus white edging that reads as a thin wingbar at rest. The tail shows white patches from below.
The female is the harder bird: plain olive-green above, dull yellowish below, with no cap and only faint pale wingbars. Her underside is unstreaked, which rules out siskins immediately, and her undertail coverts are yellow rather than white.
Size is the other constant. Lesser Goldfinches look tiny even next to a House Finch, and next to an American Goldfinch the difference is obvious when the two share a feeder.
Lesser Goldfinch compared with the birds people confuse it with#
| Feature | Lesser Goldfinch | American Goldfinch | Pine Siskin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | 4 in (10 cm) | 5 in (13 cm) | 4.7 in (12 cm) |
| Back | Green or black | Yellow in summer, olive in winter | Brown, heavily streaked |
| Male cap | Small black cap year-round | Black forehead patch, summer only | None |
| Winter male | Still bright yellow below | Dull olive-buff | Streaked brown |
| Undertail coverts | Yellow | White | Streaked |
| Bill | Small, gray, conical | Larger, orange in summer | Sharply pointed |
The other regular mix-up is a female House Finch, which is bigger, brown and streaked with a much heavier bill. Nothing about a female House Finch is yellow.
Green-backed and black-backed forms#
Lesser Goldfinches vary geographically in back color, and the difference is striking enough that people assume they have two species.
Green-backed birds occupy the Pacific slope and Great Basin: California, western Oregon, Nevada, western Utah. The male's back is olive-green and the black is limited to the cap, wings and tail.
Black-backed birds occupy the eastern and southern part of the range: Texas, New Mexico, eastern Colorado and much of the Southwest, continuing into Mexico. On these birds the entire back and nape are glossy black, so the male reads as black above and yellow below.
The two intergrade broadly through Arizona and Colorado, and mixed-looking males with mottled backs are normal there. Neither form is a separate species, and both use feeders the same way.
Range is the fastest ID tool you have
In the Pacific Northwest lowlands and northern Rockies, a yellow finch is usually an American Goldfinch. In southern California, Arizona and central Texas, it is usually a Lesser. In the overlap, use size and back color rather than expectation.
Where and when you will see them#
Lesser Goldfinches live in open woodland edges, brushy hillsides, chaparral, riparian corridors, weedy fields, orchards and suburbs, from sea level to around 9,000 feet (2,700 m) in the mountains. They are common in towns and cities with mature landscaping.
Most US birds are residents. In California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas the species is at feeders in every month. Populations at the northern edge and at high elevation are more mobile: birds in Oregon, Idaho, Washington and the Colorado high country move downslope or shift south in fall, so those feeders can be busy in summer and empty in January.
The range has been expanding north and northeast over recent decades. Records in the Pacific Northwest north of the historic range have become more regular.
What they eat and the feeder setup that works#
Lesser Goldfinches are seed specialists with a taste for the sunflower and aster family, plus tree buds and some small fruit. Wild foods include thistle, sunflower, chicory, coreopsis, dandelion, wild lettuce and grass seed, along with elm, alder and cottonwood.
| Food | Response | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nyjer seed | Top choice | Goes stale fast; refill in small amounts |
| Sunflower hearts and chips | Excellent | Often cheaper per bird than nyjer |
| Black oil sunflower in the shell | Taken, more slowly | Small bill has to work at the hull |
| Fine millet | Occasional | Not a draw |
| Suet, peanuts, corn | Ignored | Wrong bird entirely |
Use a nyjer or mesh finch feeder with as many feeding positions as you can find. These are flocking birds, and a six-port tube will hold four times as many as a two-port one. They cling comfortably and will feed from an upside-down or inverted finch feeder, which excludes House Finches if those are taking over.
Buy nyjer in small bags
Nyjer is a high-oil seed that goes rancid in a few weeks, and finches reject it long before it smells wrong to you. If a full feeder sits untouched, that is your answer: dump it, wash and dry the tube, and refill from a recently opened bag. A tube that has sat full for a month is stale, not popular.
Water is half the battle in the West#
Lesser Goldfinches drink frequently, as strict seed eaters generally do, and in dry country a reliable water source draws them better than any seed. A shallow bird bath no more than 2 inches (5 cm) deep, with a rough bottom and a landing edge, will get steady traffic through summer.
Moving water multiplies that. A dripper or a small mister over the bath is often the single most productive addition in a yard from Sacramento to Tucson: see drippers, misters and moving water.
Voice and behavior#
The song is a long, rambling, slightly wheezy warble with sharp notes and imitations of other birds mixed in. Lesser Goldfinches copy fragments of calls from species around them, so a song may include scraps of a phoebe or a jay. It is easy to miss and worth learning; a male will sing for a minute at a stretch from an exposed twig.
The flight call is a plaintive rising tee-yee or falling teee-er, usually given by birds passing overhead in a bouncing, undulating flock. Once you know that call you will find that they are everywhere.
Flocks stay together outside the breeding season and often mix with House Finches, American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins, which is the situation in which mixed-flock diseases spread.
Crowded finch feeders spread disease
Finch flocks packed onto one feeder are the classic setting for salmonellosis and for House Finch eye disease. Clean feeders every two weeks, more often in warm or wet weather, and take them down for a week if you see a sick bird. The method is in how to clean a bird feeder.
Nesting#
Pairs build a small, compact cup of plant fibers, bark strips and fine grass, bound with spider silk and lined with plant down, usually 4 to 30 feet (1 to 9 m) up in a shrub or the outer branches of a tree. Oaks, willows, cottonwoods and garden ornamentals all get used.
Clutches are usually 3 to 5 pale bluish-white eggs. The female incubates for about 12 days while the male feeds her, and young leave the nest roughly 11 to 15 days after hatching. Two broods a year are common in the southern part of the range.
Like other goldfinches they feed nestlings regurgitated seed rather than insects, which is why they nest later than most songbirds and why a yard with seed-bearing native plants supports more of them.
A Lesser Goldfinch setup that works#
- A multi-port nyjer or mesh feeder, hung in the open with a shrub within 15 feet (4.5 m).
- A second tube of sunflower chips, which costs less per bird and never goes stale as fast as nyjer.
- Small refills, so seed turns over every week or two rather than sitting.
- Shallow water with a dripper, cleaned and refilled every few days.
- Weedy corners left standing into fall. Thistle, sunflower and coreopsis heads left uncut feed them for free.
Frequently asked questions#
What is the difference between a Lesser Goldfinch and an American Goldfinch?
Size and back color. Lesser Goldfinch is clearly smaller, about 4 inches (10 cm) against 5 inches (13 cm), with a dark green or glossy black back, yellow undertail coverts and no black forehead patch. American Goldfinch males in breeding plumage have a clean yellow back, a black cap on the forehead, an orange bill and white undertail coverts, and both sexes turn dull olive-buff in winter. A yellow finch in December in Arizona or California is much more likely to be a Lesser.
Do Lesser Goldfinches eat nyjer seed?
Yes, readily. Nyjer in a tube or mesh finch feeder is the standard way to attract them, and they will feed shoulder to shoulder with American Goldfinches, House Finches and Pine Siskins. Sunflower chips are just as good and often cheaper per feeding bird. Keep the nyjer fresh, because they abandon stale seed quickly.
Why are some Lesser Goldfinches black on the back and some green?
They are geographic forms of the same species. Birds in California, Oregon, Nevada and most of the Pacific slope have olive-green backs. Birds through Texas, New Mexico, eastern Colorado and much of Mexico have glossy black backs. Intermediates occur where the two meet, and both forms look identical from the front: black cap, bright yellow underparts, white wing flash.
Are Lesser Goldfinches here all year?
In most of their US range, yes. They are resident through California, the low Southwest and much of Texas, and they visit feeders in every month. Birds breeding at higher elevations and at the northern edge of the range, in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and the Colorado high country, move downslope or south for winter.
What is the best feeder for Lesser Goldfinches?
A nyjer tube with multiple ports, or a fine mesh finch feeder that lets several birds cling at once. They are social and feed in flocks, so a feeder with six or more feeding positions holds far more birds than a two-port model. A small-port tube of sunflower chips works equally well and drains slower in wet weather.
How do I tell a female Lesser Goldfinch from a Pine Siskin?
Streaking. Pine Siskins are streaked brown all over with a sharply pointed bill and yellow flashes in the wing and tail. Female Lesser Goldfinches are plain: unstreaked olive above, dull yellow below, with a stubby conical bill and a pale wingbar. If the breast has any streaking, it is not a goldfinch.