Bird Guide

American Goldfinch vs Eurasian Siskin

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)

American Goldfinch

Spinus tristis

Tiny13 gForest

The American goldfinch is a small finch, 11–14 cm (4.3–5.5 in) long, with a wingspan of 19–22 cm (7.5–8.7 in). It weighs between 11–20 g (0.39–0.71 oz). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 6.5 to 7.8 cm (2.6 to 3.1 in), the tail is 4.2 to 5.1 cm (1.7 to 2.0 in), the culmen is 0.9 to 1.1 cm (0.35 to 0.43 in) and the tarsus is 1.2 to 1.4 cm (0.47 to 0.55 in). The beak is small, conical, and pink for most of the year, but turns bright orange with the spring molt in both sexes.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the American Goldfinch
Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma · Song · Glacial Lakes State Park, Pope County, Minnesota, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: joy4birds · CC0
Eurasian Siskin (Spinus spinus)

Eurasian Siskin

Spinus spinus

Tiny13 gForest

The siskin is a small, short-tailed bird, 11–12.5 centimetres (4.3–4.9 in) in length with a wingspan that ranges from 20 to 23 centimetres (7.9 to 9.1 in). It weighs between 12 and 18 grams (0.42 and 0.63 oz). The bird shows sexual dimorphism. The male has a greyish-green back, a yellow rump, yellow sides to the tail with a black tip, black wings with a distinctive yellow wing stripe, a yellowish breast that becomes whiter and striped towards the cloaca, a black bib (or chin patch) and two yellow auriculas and a black cap on its head. Voice: This bird has two calls, both powerful but conflicting, one is descending and the other is ascending, their onomatopoeic sounds can be represented as "tilu" and "tluih". On occasions they also issue a harsh rattling chirrup. Like other finches, the song is a smooth, rapid twitter and trill of long duration, occasionally interrupted by stronger or shorter syllables.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Eurasian Siskin
Recorded by Carlo Fracasso · Call · Torino di Sangro, Province of Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy · CC0
Photo: (c) caroline legg, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: American Goldfinch and Eurasian Siskin.