Confusing to me anyway but then I’m often confused when it comes to molt and color variation in birds.
Due to wildfire smoke I was once again confined to photographing birds in my garden yesterday morning. By dawn some of the smoke had cleared out so I spent about an hour photographing birds in my garden but it didn’t take long for another wave of thick, choking smoke to move in so I’ve been staying inside ever since.
1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Once again it was the amaranth in my garden that was the big attractant for birds – they do love those small but copious seeds that don’t have to be hulled. This male Lesser Goldfinch was the only goldfinch of either species I saw yesterday and he didn’t stay long. It took him only about five or six seconds to land on the seed head, grab a seed or two, and then fly off over my back fence. Maybe he thought he was a chickadee.
I’m a little confused by those silly looking splotches of black on top of his head. The crown and forehead of adult males are solid glossy black and adult females lack the black on the head so what’s the explanation for those black splotches? My first thought was that this is a molting adult male but unlike the American Goldfinch this species has no seasonal color changes so it seems unlikely to me that this is an adult male.
So now I’m thinking that this bird must be an immature first year male just beginning to acquire the black forehead and bright yellow underparts of the adult male.
This is the first shot I got of him on the amaranth. For some silly reason when I first noticed those black patterns on his forehead I thought some of them looked like star anise, which tastes a lot like licorice. They don’t really look very much like star anise but that’s what first came to mind and now I can’t unthink it.
Humans eat amaranth seeds too (ground up as flour or even popped like tiny popcorn) but somehow I don’t think licorice-flavored flour or amaranth seeds would be a good combination. Yeah, my mind goes to weird places…
Ron
First Dalmation/ Goldfinch I ever saw,,,glad you’ve gotbthe evidence…very beautiful image…
My mother was a goldfinch who was fascinated by sparrows…
Well, that’s my guess at his answer. 😀
🙂
Juveniles (of any species) refuse to dress as the adults do. And in some species who can blame them…
This is gorgeous, but I am sorry that you are still confined to home.
“Juveniles (of any species) refuse to dress as the adults do”
Good point, EC. Especially applicable to humans.
Really wonderful backyard garden photos — the colors of bird, plant and background are a gorgeous mix! I am not good at juvenile IDs so no help with that, but I’m definitely going to be looking for some amaranth for my own garden! Have lots of Finch and Bushtit visitors, just as Everett mentioned. 😎
I envy you your Bushtits, Chris. We have them around here but they’ve been extremely difficult for me to photograph. Juniper titmice too.
Ron,
I want that plant in my garden. What beautiful color to compliment your photos … of almost anything!
Stephen
Well, there’s always next year, Stephen…
I second Pat G’s comments. The yellow and red in the foreground are nicely complemented by the same but muted background colors. I think you’re going to start a spike in the sale of amaranth seeds. Me included.
In addition to molt and coloration I would add that in my case juveniles greatly add to the confusion.
I think that spike has already started, Lyle – here and on Facebook.
If I was more monetarily minded and wouldn’t be ‘robbing’ from my birds I might start selling them myself… 🙂
The colour of the amaranth is stunning, the bokeh is so creamy and the posture and detail are so good that the whole being greater than the parts have made for some truly outstanding images. Add in your stream of conscience ramblings and this is a delightful post I very much enjoyed. I’m also thinking I should seriously consider planting some amaranth in my garden if they look that good, assuming they will grow here of course.
“your stream of conscience ramblings”
That’s exactly what it was, Pat. Or at least semi-conscience – at the time I hadn’t yet had much coffee.
I don’t know for sure but I suspect at least some varieties of amaranth (there are many) will grow just about anywhere.
Hehe! 😁😁😁 conscience! 🤣 Gotta love it! 😁
We have a very large Rose of Sharon that this time of the year has tons of aphids and then the ants eating the aphids. Yesterday I took photos of a male Lesser Goldfinch with the same splotched head who was competing with the Titmice to see who could eat the most aphids. It very well might be a seasonal thing such as molting. Just recently all the male Lessers in our backyard have had the normal black head.
Interesting, Everett.
Ron – first reply I of course meant Bushtits not Titmice – they come in a flock of about 20 pretty much twice a day and are really fun to watch
Lovely! Love the colors in these photos. Molting male Goldfinches are always interesting to look at; you just never know what they may look like. I think I may have to add amaranth to my garden…I’ve driven past a few fields around here that have it planted but haven’t paid much attention to it…it really is quite lovely. I’m waiting for a change in this weather pattern we are in…heat and high humidity plus much more rain than normal. Just never have been a fan of humidity!
Thanks, Kathy. There are lots of amaranth varieties to choose from. Mine grows very tall when the conditions are right.
I’d definitely take some of your rain.
I really like the first shot– the color harmony is very unusual, and it seemed
to me the the splotches on “his” head were a perfect echo in size and shape
of the highly-textured amaranth seeds–they sort of belonged together !
Thanks, Kris. I’m pretty fond of that first photo myself. I’m just lucky it was sharp because I had so little time with him.
Ron – Check out eBird checklist S64913267. Several examples of Lesser Goldfinch attached photos…. I love eBird and Cornell’s Birds of the World. 💚
Mark, I’m a near-addict of BotW. I’ve been a subscriber for perhaps ten years now and I use it many times each week, including for this post.
Whataya looking at? 2nd photo. 🤭 He IS a splotchy mess at the moment! Nice shots on the Amaranth tho. 🙂
COLD rain for awhile yesterday and this morning has cleared the air for the moment. 52 this morning. Had .2 last evening early so, hopefully, a bit more now. Well take it. 🙂
Judy, I’m hoping for our monsoons to come back, as unlikely as that is. If they did we might get some more moisture and it would push the smoke north, up over top of us.
But that would be bad for you and of course I wouldn’t want that…
In the second photo the bird seems to be saying, “Why are you disturbing my breakfast?” Very stunning photos. I love the colors.
Cindy, that photo was taken only a couple of seconds after he landed so he’s watching me very carefully to make sure I’m not a threat.