Eastern goldfinch, the state bird of Iowa

How to recognize it

The goldfinch is a small finch, four to five inches long, with a short, cone-shaped bill and a short, notched tail. The breeding male is unmistakable: bright lemon yellow, with a black cap on his forehead, black wings with white markings and white patches above and below the tail. The female is duller, yellow below and olive above. In winter both sexes turn a plain, unstreaked brown with blackish wings and two pale wing bars, so different from the summer male that many people think they are seeing another bird.

Goldfinches fly in a bouncy, roller-coaster pattern, often calling a quick po-ta-to-chip with each dip. The male’s song is a long, jumbled warble.

A bird that eats seeds

The goldfinch is one of the strictest vegetarians among North American birds. It eats almost nothing but seeds, especially those of sunflowers, thistles, asters and dandelions, clinging acrobatically to the seed heads. At feeders it prefers nyjer and sunflower seed.

That diet shapes its whole year. Goldfinches nest late, in midsummer, waiting until thistles and other plants have gone to seed. They feed their nestlings seeds rather than insects, and they line their tightly woven cup nests with the soft down of thistles. In Iowa, nesting usually happens in late July and August, long after most birds have finished.

Where to see one in Iowa

Goldfinches are common across Iowa in weedy fields, open floodplains, roadsides, orchards, parks and backyards. They visit feeders all year, and many stay through the winter. In late summer, look for them feeding on the seed heads of coneflowers, sunflowers and thistles.

Common, but declining

The goldfinch is a bird of low conservation concern, with a global breeding population that Partners in Flight puts at about 44 million. The Breeding Bird Survey does show a decline of about 27 percent between 1966 and 2019.

The state bird since 1933

The General Assembly adopted the goldfinch by a concurrent resolution on March 22, 1933, choosing it because it is common in Iowa and often stays through the winter. The resolution called it the eastern goldfinch, a name for the eastern population of the American goldfinch. New Jersey and Washington chose the same bird.