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Need Bird ID Again--Small Yellow and Black Bird

13 years ago

I'm back needing help identifying a bird again. Today I saw this tiny little bird for the first time. He was feeding on a sock thistle feeder in Central Texas. I think a couple of these pictures show a pair of them. I think the male is the black and yellow one and the female the greenish one. She looks sort of like a goldfinch but the color is wrong and the markings on the back feathers is wrong. They were each only 3 to 3 1/2 inches long--4 at the maximum. Here are 4 pictures. One isn't real clear but the best one I got that shows the back. The yellow on the face starts just below the eye. I thought it was a warbler, but have searched all over the internet and cannot find a warbler picture with these markings. They were very pretty and I was really excited to see them. I saw the male later in the day on a bird bath. Wish I had gotten that picture because you could see him much better.

Comments (8)

alan_la
13 years ago
You have American Goldfinches. Nice pictures.
bob414
13 years ago
Are they American Goldfinches or Lesser Goldfinches?
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Good Morning everyone. I placed a call to the rescue center this morning and left a msg...waiting for a reply I checked out the pic of the bobwhite and it doesn`t match but the pic of the nothern rough-tailed swallow is very close. The differences are that it does not have the black band across the eyes and it doesn`t have the needle like ending to the tail feathers but the overall shape, size and color are very close. My initial thought when I say the bird was that it was a swallow because of the wings. I looked this bird up on google and it is on the rare bird site. We sit at night and watch these little guys dance throught the sky in groups. This year is the first year that I have seen these so they must be new to our area or the population is growing. I live in the heart of a large city across the river from Detroit MI. I will keep looking on google and will post if/when I get an answer from the rescue center. Well I just got a call from the rescue center and the little guy did not make it.....:( She said that he may have been bleeding interally...all we saw was the bleeding from his foot....may have been attacked by a cat??? She did ID him for me and he was a Chimney Swift. I google this and the pic is exactly what he looked like. Thank you everyone for helping. Louise
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Okay, they're back and in better light. Mystery solved, I'm being visited by a lovely pair of Lazuli Buntings, oh my gosh!! This is a first in my yard since I've lived here. Thanks all for trying to help me. I got a very clear look at these birds today, and saw that the blue extended across the back, and the head was even bluer than I had realized. I thought at first it might be a Western Bluebird, but it wasn't big enough. Such a pretty little bird and so glad to see it at my feeders!!
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Swifts are on the decline too because the types of chimneys they require are seen less and less in homes. The town nearby is quite old with lots of Victorian age homes and older and you see swifts frequently. We used to get all sorts of birds down our chimneys here (1820s house with fireplaces in each room) and swifts were one of them. I left them be, pulled the glass doors shut and usually the parent fed them and they disappeared when they got old enough, prolly back up the chimney. This is bizarre, but we had a brick loose in our original kitchen hearth and before we repaired it, somehow starling babies ended up in the adjoining cabinets in my linen drawer. Don't ask me how! I did evict them! We have even had ducks drop down the chimney. LOL. We do not use the woodburning fireplaces anymore and the chimney are all capped. You can search the net for instructions on how to build swift towers to replace the chimneys they used to use more easily. They are insect eaters. Good, good birds to have around.
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I think this would be a very difficult ID without a picture. Could you try to get a picture of this bird? A white dot on the breast may or may not be an identifying mark. It could be a HOSP with a few white feathers. It would really help to get a picture to see the shape, beak, leg color, etc.
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beegood_gw
13 years ago
I don't know about the lesser but they aren't American gold finches. They only have a black cap.Just checked they are for sure a lesser gold finch
orrin_h
13 years ago
Absolutely Lesser Goldfinch.

By the way, I don't know how much time you spent looking at warbler pics, but you would have saved yourself that effort by noting the bill shape: warblers have much thinner bills. Bill shape and size is often a good clue to point you in the right direction; bright colour patterns you'll likely remember without trying, but the bill really needs to be looked at (unless we're talking about a toucan or spoonbill etc). Just a friendly hint.

-O-
pertgarr
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks, Orrin, for the tip about checking the shape of the bird's bill. I remember on the last bird I needed ID on (which turned out to be a warbler) that his beak was very, very thin. I knew this one had characteristics of the goldfinch but forgot there was such a one as a lesser goldfinch since I'd never seen one before.
alan_la
13 years ago
Sorry about that, I do know the difference,I'm just a lousy speller. Lesser-Goldfinces for sure.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
13 years ago
I came here to post a short video of a small yellow and black bird in San Antonio, Texas in hopes of an ID and got my answer on this post. Thank you!

Here is a link that might be useful: Youtube yellow bird ...
iKnoe9
13 years ago
Nice lookin' out there! :D

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