Eastern goldfinch, the state bird of New Jersey

How to recognize it

The goldfinch is a small finch, about the size of a sparrow: 4 to 5 inches long and weighing well under an ounce. In the breeding season, males are bright yellow with a black forehead, wings and tail; females are a duller yellow-green. In winter both turn yellowish-brown to gray and show bold wing bars and white spots on the tail. Goldfinches molt twice a year, which few North American birds do. Listen for the bouncy flight call, per-chick-o-ree, often written as “potato chips.”

How it lives

The goldfinch is almost entirely a seed eater. It favors the seeds of daisy-family plants such as thistles, along with elm, birch and alder, and it climbs acrobatically through weeds and trees as it feeds, usually in flocks outside the breeding season. It nests late in the year, in July and August, and the female weaves a tight cup lined with thistle down. It lives in weedy open ground, thistle patches, roadsides, open woods and woodland edges.

Where to see one in New Jersey

Goldfinches live in New Jersey year-round, but they tend to sit high in trees, so many people never notice them. The easiest way to see one is to put out sunflower seed at a backyard feeder.

Common and widespread

The goldfinch is a species of least concern, with about 44 million birds, though Audubon notes that numbers may have dropped recently in some areas.

The state bird since 1935

Senator Dryden Kuser introduced the state bird bill in January 1935, pointing out that 44 other states already had one. Senators greeted the first reading by whistling, and the bill first fell four votes short. It passed on a later try, and Governor Harold G. Hoffman signed it on June 27, 1935. The law still uses the old name, eastern goldfinch.