Spinus psaltria
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The lesser goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) is a small finch in the genus Spinus native to the Americas. As is the case for most species in the genus Spinus, lesser goldfinch males have a black forehead, which females lack. Males in this species vary strikingly in the color of their back across their range, from green in western North America to black in the eastern Rocky Mountains and Texas south to northern South America; this variation has resulted in five subspecies being recognized.
Together with its relatives the American goldfinch and Lawrence's goldfinch, it forms a clade, termed the 'New World goldfinch' clade, in the genus Spinus. Some authors have suggested treating this clade as a separate genus Astragalinus, but this has not been followed by either the IOC or BirdLife International.
The lesser goldfinch was formally described by the American zoologist Thomas Say in 1822 under the binomial name Fringilla psaltria. The specific epithet psaltria is Ancient Greek for a female harpist. The type locality is Colorado Springs, Colorado. The lesser goldfinch is now placed in the genus Spinus that was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch.
Five subspecies... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Goldfinch sighting in Los Angeles on a given day, based on 68,079 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 6th most-seen of the 426 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March to June
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Goldfinch in Los Angeles on a given day, against about 50% in August and November–January, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lesser Goldfinch sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 34
Of the 34 cities where we can rate Lesser Goldfinch sightings, Los Angeles ranks 5th at about 60%. The best odds are in Toluca (México, about 70%), Sacramento (United States, about 70%) and Salt Lake City (United States, about 60%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lesser Goldfinch is recorded against all the birds logged in Los Angeles (68,079 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
