Male American Goldfinch with winter plumage. Here he is eating his breakfast. American goldfinch (Spinus tristis), also known as eastern goldfinch is a small bird in the finch family. It is migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season (summer), and from the Canada/US border to Mexico during the winter. It is a granivore and adapted for the consumption of seedheads. The only finch in its subfamily to undergo a complete molt, the American goldfinch displays sexual dimorphism in its coloration; the male is a vibrant yellow during the breeding season and an olive color during the winter. The female is a dull yellow-brown shade which brightens only slightly during the summer.
This male red-wing blackbird was very happily singing at dusk despite the wind moving the marsh grasses. While he might not have been bothered by the wind, it made photographing him a bit more challenging. The red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North and much of Central America. The common name is taken from the mainly black adult male's distinctive red shoulder patches, or "epaulets", which are visible when the bird is flying or displaying, as he kindly did for me here.
