Lesser Goldfinch

Scientific Name: Carduelis psaltria

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status.

Range / Habitat: Year-round in scrubby oak, cottonwood, and willow habitats of the western US and Mexico.

Field Notes: Males bright yellow underneath with a glossy black cap and back Wings black with white patches. Tail black with large white corners. Females and immature males overall olive-yellow, wings darker with two whitish wing bars. American Goldfinch breeding male brighter yellow both above and below, black cap not complete. Non-breeding adult American Goldfinch more grey, more boldly patterned black and white wings, and pink bills.

Personal Notes: Seen at Barker Dam in Joshua Tree National Park.

European Goldfinch

Scientific Name: Carduelis carduelis

Population Estimate: 75M - 350M

Range / Habitat: Found in artificial landscapes, grassland, shrubland throughout Europe, most of Asia, and north Africa. Introduced to Australia, New Zealand, and parts of South America.

Field Notes: Sexes are similar, and coloration is unmistakable: red face, black and white head, brown upperparts, white underparts with brown flanks and breast patches, and striking black and yellow wings. 

Personal Notes: First seen flocking around thistles on a plateau above Kaikoura. On return to New Zealand, they have been frequently spotted at the Kenepuru campus. 

European Greenfinch

Scientific Name: Carduelis chloris

Population Estimate: 45M - 150M

Range / Habitat: Widespread throughout Europe, north Africa and southwest Asia in artificial landscapes and shrubland. Some northern populations migrate. Also introduced into both Australia and New Zealand.

Field Notes: Similar in size and shape to a House Sparrow, but greenish color with bright yellow in wings and tail. Female more drab than male. Large, conical, pale bill. Other yellow species in New Zealand is Yellowhammer which has smaller, grey bill and rufous wings and upperparts.

Personal Notes: Seen at the Wellington Botanical Gardens.

Brown-capped Rosy Finch

Scientific Name: Leucosticte australis

Population Estimate: 45K

Range / Habitat: Year round above the tree line in mountain peaks of western Colorado.

Field Notes: Medium-sized finch. Cinnamon-brown on back, breast, neck, and face. Black forehead. Red or pink on belly, rump, and in wings. Unmistakable in range -- the highest bird on the mountain.

Personal Notes: Seen at the summit of Pike's Peak.

Black Rosy Finch

Scientific Name: Leucosticte atrata

Population Estimate: 20K

Range / Habitat: A bird of the high mountain tundra of the American West. Nests above tree-line at 3000-4300M. Often the bird on the highest elevation on a particular mountain.

Field Notes: Dark brown / black on back, breast, neck, and face. Grey patch wrapping around back of head. Black forehead, white tuft at base of bill. Pink on belly, rump, and in wings. Grey-crowned Rosy Finch with more grey on head. Brown-capped Rosy Finch without the grey on head.

Personal Notes: A wonderful surprise find while summiting an unnamed 12K foot peak in the Big Horn Mountains.

Cassin's Finch

Scientific Name: Carpodacus cassinii

Population Estimate: 1.9M, Near Threatened status

Range / Habitat: Year-round in montane pine forests of the American West. Will extend slightly into Canada in summer and throughout the mountains of Mexico in winter.

Field Notes: Somewhat large and lanky for a red American finch, the bright red crown contrasts with brownish cheeks in male. Purple Finch overlaps little but stouter with shorter beak and more uniform red. House Finch with distinct brown streaks on flanks.

Personal Notes: Seen on a lovely hike to Rainbow Lake in the Absoroka-Beartooth Wilderness near Red Lodge, Montana.

Tawny-capped Euphonia

Scientific Name: Euphonia anneae

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to mature, wet montane forests between 400 and 1700m in Costa Rica, Panama, and Columbia.

Field Notes: Small passerine with relatively short tail. Both male and female have diagnostic tawny crown. Male has dark purple / black head and back, yellow underneath. Female has olive / green upperparts, grey / buff underneath.

Personal Notes: Seen at Arenal Hanging Bridges, Costa Rica

Golden-browed Chlorophonia

Scientific Name: Chlorophonia callophrys

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Tropical montane moist forest in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua.

Field Notes: Small passerine with bright green head, neck, back and wings. Belly is bright yellow, more extensive in male. Only male shows bright yellow stripe on brow. Unmistakable in highlands.

Personal Notes: Seen at Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica.

Scrub Euphonia

Scientific Name: Euphonia affinis

Population Estimate: 500K-5M

Range / Habitat: Both coasts of southern Mexico, the Yucatan, into Central America. Habitat is lowland forest edge and scrub.

Field Notes: Typical euphonia: short and stubby with a prominent forehead spot. This bird frequently associates with Yellow-throated Euphonia, which has a yellow, not black, throat. The sympatric White-vented Euphonia has the black throat but a white vent.

Personal Notes: Seen at Chaa Creek Resort in Belize

Olive-backed Euphonia

Scientific Name: Euphonia gouldi

Population Estimate: 50K-500K

Range / Habitat: Resident from SE Mexico through Central America. Prefers moist lowland forest.

Field Notes: Small, stubby passerine with characteristic forehead spot of the euphonia (not readily seen in the above photos). Distinctive plumage for euphonias: olive-grey throughout, males with yellow forehead and rust belly and vent (bottom photo). Female with rust forehead and vent only (top photo).

Personal Notes: Seen at Tikal in Guatemala.

House Finch

Scientific Name: Carpodacus mexicanus

Population Estimate: 21M

Range / Habitat: Found year-round throughout most of US and Mexico. Favors shrubland; frequent visitor of feeders.

Field Notes: Widespread, melodic finch. Male with red to head, chest and rump but brown cheeks and heavy brown streaking of the flanks. Female is quite plain, no markings on head and faint streaking on breast. Purple Finch male has red extending to nape and back and no streaking on the flanks. Purple Finch female has a bold face pattern and darker streaking on chest. Cassin's Finch male has bright red crest and lacks brown flank streaking.

Personal Notes: We were struck by how boldly colored these birds were in Mexico (top photo) compared to what we had seen in Minnesota (bottom photos).

Purple Finch

Scientific Name: Carpodacus Purpureus

Population Estimate: 3M

Range / Habitat: It is included in the finch family, Fringillidae, which is made up of passerine birds found in northern hemisphere and Africa. Their breeding habitat is coniferous and mixed forest in Canada and the northeastern United States, as well as various wooded areas along the U.S. Pacific coast.

Field Notes: This species and the other "American rosefinches" are placed in the genus Haemorhous by the American Ornithologists' Union but have usually been included in Carpodacus. The plumage of both males and females are darker, and the coloration of the females is more greenish.Adults have a short forked brown tail and brown wings and are about 15 cm (4 in) in length and weigh 34 g (1.2 oz).Adult males are raspberry red on the head, breast, back and rump; their back is streaked. Adult females have light brown upperparts and white underparts with dark brown streaks throughout; they have a white line on the face above the eye.

Personal Notes:

White-winged Crossbill

Scientific Name: Loxia leucoptera

Population Estimate: 40M

Range / Habitat: It has two subspecies, White-winged Crossbill Loxia leucoptera leucoptera in North America, and Two-barred Crossbill Loxia leucoptera bifasciata in NE Europe and N Asia.
This bird breeds in the coniferous forests of Alaska, Canada, northernmost USA and across Asia extending into northeast Europe.

Field Notes: The Two-barred Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera), known as the White-winged Crossbill. . There are also white tips to the tertials. The adult male is also a somewhat brighter (pinker) red than other male crossbills. Some Common Crossbills occasionally show weak white wingbars, so care is needed with the correct identification of this species.

Personal Notes:

Pine Siskin

Scientific Name: Carduelis Pinus

Population Estimate: 8M

Range / Habitat: The range of the pine siskin extends south from southern Alaska and Canada, through the United States to Mexico. This species is also found as a vagrant in Guatemala.

Field Notes: The pine siskin (Carduelis pinus) is a very small songbird with brown, heavily streaked upperparts, white or grey underparts and subtle yellow markings on the tips of the tail and wings. The tail and wings are otherwise dusky brown or black, apart from two buffy wingbars, which fade to white as the individual ages. The tail is short and notched, and the yellow markings on the tail and wings are more visible when the bird is in flight. The pine siskin’s bill is sharp, pointed and notched and can vary in colour between dusky brown and black. The colour of the legs and feet varies between dark brown, red or dark horn, and the eyes of this species are brown.

Personal Notes:

Common Redpoll

Scientific Name: Carduelis flammea

Population Estimate: 100M

Range / Habitat: Breeds in the long summer of the Arctic tundra. Winters in Canada, down to northern US. Also migratory across northern Europe and Asia. Frequent bird of feeders in the winter, but preferred habitat is open thickets and weedy fields. Introduced to Australia and New Zealand.

Field Notes: Small, rolly-polly finch with distinctive red patch on head, variable pink on the breast, and heavily streaked sides. The less common Hoary Redpoll is sometimes mixed in and appears lighter overall, more white on secondaries, no streaking on flanks, and unstreaked white rump patch.

Personal Notes: First seen in Sax-Zim Bog. Later, we delighted in flocks of these birds at a winter feeder on the Gunflint Trail (with a bonus Hoary mixed in, though no photo).

Pine Grosbeak

Scientific Name: Pinicola enucleator

Population Estimate: 4M

Range / Habitat: The wide range of the pine grosbeak stretches across the northern hemisphere, from Europe, across Russia, China and Japan, to Canada and the United States. It is also found as a vagrant in western parts of Europe, such as Austria, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Germany.

Field Notes: The pine grosbeak (Pinocla enucleator) is a large, plump, heavy-chested bird, which differs in appearance between sexes. The distinctive plumage of the male is deep rose-pink on the head, neck, breast and rump, grey on each side of the body, and streaked black on the upperparts. The throat is grey or white and there are also white or grey patches underneath the eyes. The male pine grosbeak has a long, notched black-brown tail with a grey underside, and there are conspicuous white wingbars on its brown-black wings. The tips of some of the flight feathers are white.

Personal Notes:

Evening Grosbeak

Scientific Name: Coccothraustes Vespertinus

Population Estimate: 6M

Range / Habitat: A North American species, the evening grosbeak is widespread across Canada and the United States, reaching as far south as Mexico. The breeding range of C. v. brooksi stretches south from western Canada to California, Arizona and New Mexico in the U.S., while C. v. montanus occurs from southeast Arizona into parts of Mexico. C. v. vespertinus has a more easterly distribution, breeding from central and eastern Canada south to northern Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, Vermont and Massachusetts in the U.S.

Field Notes: The Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus) is a large finch. In the past, it was treated in a genus of its own as Hesperiphona vespertina. The male evening grosbeak is quite distinctive, being mostly bright yellow with a brownish-black head, neck and throat, a black tail and wings, and large white wing patches. The dark head is marked by a conspicuous bright yellow forehead and yellow stripes above the eyes. Outside of the breeding season, the heavy bill is off-white or buff, but it becomes pale greenish-yellow in spring. The evening grosbeak’s legs and feet are fleshy pink to brown.

Personal Notes:

American Goldfinch

Scientific Name: Carduelis tristis

Population Estimate: 24M

Location of Sighting: MN Arboretum

Date of Sighting: December, 2009

Notes: A common bird at winter bird feeders, they are still striking even in their duller winter plumage. All have a little yellow under their chin and two wide, white wing bars. They are a social bird, flocks of which are called "charms."

Eurasian Chaffinch

Scientific Name: Fringilla coelebs

Population Estimate: 500M - 1.5B

Range / Habitat: This bird is widespread and very familiar throughout Europe. It is the most common finch in western Europe, Its range extends into western Asia, northwestern Africa, and Macaronesia, where it has many distinctive island forms.

Field Notes: The Common Chaffinch's large double white wing bars, white tail edges and greenish rump easily identify this 14–16 cm long species. The breeding male is unmistakable, with his reddish underparts and a blue-grey cap. The female is drabber and greener, but still obvious.

Personal Notes:

Red Crossbill

Scientific Name: Loxia curvirostra

Order: Passeriformes

Population Estimate: 30M - 100M

Location of Sighting: Grand Marais and Gunflint Trail, Minnesota

Date of Sighting: Year-round

Notes: Seen in pine forest habitats as the crossed bill is designed to feed on pine cones. From afar appears as a stocky bird and the bill is noticeably different. When feeding in trees crossbills will dangle upside-down like parrots as in the first photo. They will also come down to the ground to eat grit to aid digestion. The yellow bird is the female and red is the male. They are differentiated easily from White-winged Crossbills as the Red Crossbills do not have any white in the wings. The two travel in species-specific flocks.