Adult (European) © Santiago Caballero Carrera eBird S57468247 Macaulay Library ML 164628571
Adult (Eastern) © Amarendra Konda
Juvenile © Santiago Caballero Carrera
Juvenile © Arun Varghese
Adult (European) © Eitan Altman
+ 5
Adult (European) © James Taylor
Adult (Eastern) © Mahesh K
Adult (Eastern) © Nayana Amin
Adult (European) © Patrick MONNEY

European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis

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Identification

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Beautiful little finch with a sharp pink bil, cherry-red face, and brilliant black-and-yellow flashes in the wings. Western birds (Europe east to far western Central Asia) have a black-and-white cowl; eastern birds (rest of Central Asia) lack this cowl, and are grayer overall, with more white on the wing. Juvenile (seen in late summer and autumn) has a plain head but is told easily by bold wing pattern. Uses a wide array of wooded and open habitats, from forests and gardens to steppe grasslands and meadows; often feeds on seeding thistles. Forms flocks in autumn and winter, gathering at food sources. Can be inconspicuous, but often detected by pleasant bubbling and twittering calls and song.

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