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Field
Guide IDs: BREEDING:
Open habitats with
scattered trees or brush, forest edge, fields,
suburban areas. 2? broods. DISPLAYS:
Male song-flight
display: spreads wings and tail widely and flaps
wings rapidly. Courtship feeding. NEST:
Compactly woven of
plant fibers, grass stems, bark, moss, lined with
plant down. Male may help build in early
stages. EGGS:
Pale blue or
bluish-white, unmarked. 0.6" (15 mm). DIET:
Includes seeds of
decid trees, forbs, and grass, also floral buds,
berries. Young fed regurgitant of milky seed pulp.
Fond of salt. Availability of water is important
and strongly affects distribution, esp in dry
seasons. CONSERVATION:
Winter resident,
although e form (black-backed) reported partially
migratory. Rare cowbird host. NOTES:
Late nester. Male
feeds incubating female by regurgitation. Pair may
stay together in winter. Highly gregarious during
winter forming flocks of up to 400, occ associates
with other goldfinches and siskins. Common resident in
various habitats virtually throughout campus. May
forage in flocks during the nonbreeding
season. ESSAYS: Bird
Biology and the
Arts;
Mixed-Species
Flocking;
Breeding
Season;
Courtship
Feeding;
Drinking REFERENCES:
Bent,
1968. |
