Nature Smart: Unique characteristics of the American goldfinch

The vast majority of native bird nesting takes place in spring, right after trees green up and the flowers start to bloom. The spring nesting season feels like a frantic rush to quickly build a nest, lay, and incubate eggs and feed the chicks. Each bird species approaches nesting differently, but ultimately with the same goal in the end: successfully passing on their genes via fledging baby birds.
Some species, however, don’t follow the early nesting playbook. The American goldfinch (Spinus tristis) is a great example of this alternate nesting behavior.

This content is restricted to subscribers of OutdoorNews.com. If you are already an OutdoorNews.com subscriber, you can log in here. If you are not and would like to read this and all the other great content OutdoorNews.com has to offer, click here.