Lesser Goldfinch
Spinus psaltria · Finches
Lesser Goldfinch
San Diego Botanic Garden, 7 March 2026
A male Lesser Goldfinch in a San Diego garden, in the green-backed form found along the California coast rather than the black-backed birds that take over further east into Texas and Mexico. It is the goldfinch of the West, a bird of dry scrub and gardens from Oregon to Peru.
The black cap stops at the nape instead of running the full length of the back. Smallest of the American goldfinches, and it keeps this plumage year-round rather than moulting into something duller for winter the way its eastern relative does.
Lesser Goldfinch, evening light
San Diego Botanic Garden, 7 March 2026
A Lesser Goldfinch in the day's last warm light at the rim of a garden fountain in San Diego, a reliable draw for finches through a dry afternoon. It is the goldfinch of the West, of dry scrub and gardens from Oregon to Peru, and the smallest goldfinch in North America.
Barely larger than a bushtit, and a mimic: its song borrows phrases from a dozen other birds, and a bird singing in a San Diego garden will often be quoting the towhees and wrens around it.
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