LESSER GOLDFINCH in SASKATCHEWAN Robert Holtkamp 792 Broadway Street West Yorkton, SK S3N 2X5 [email protected]
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FIRST CONFIRMED RECORD OF A LESSER GOLDFINCH IN SASKATCHEWAN Robert Holtkamp 792 Broadway Street West Yorkton, SK S3N 2X5 [email protected] It was a beautiful spring day on 30 April 2020 — warm and not too windy. While taking a coffee break from spring clean-up in my Yorkton yard, I noticed a couple of Purple Finches (Haemorhous purpureus), a few House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) and a Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) busy at my bird feeders. Suddenly, I FIGURE 1: The bird showed bright yellow below with mostly black upper parts and white wing markings. saw a bright flash of colour. It was a Photo credit: Robert Holtkamp. bird I had never seen before. It was bright yellow below with mostly black my first American Goldfinch (Spinus Range upper parts and white wing markings, tristis) of the season on 12 May. The Lesser Goldfinch is a resident like an oddly coloured goldfinch. I from Washington, Oregon and grabbed my camera and snapped a Identification northern Nevada east to northern dozen or so shots (Figure 1) until the The Lesser Goldfinch is a small, Colorado and Texas, and south bird disappeared. social songbird that is found beyond the Mexico/U.S. border. Using the iBird application on throughout the southwestern United Black-backed and green-backed my cell phone, I typed in American States. At 4.5 inches in length, the males were previously treated as Goldfinch. I then tapped ‘similar’ and Lesser Goldfinch is the smallest different subspecies, but are now voila! It was the bird I saw in my yard finch in North America and one thought to be colour morphs.4 The — a beautiful, male Lesser Goldfinch of the smallest true finches (family black-backed form predominates east (Spinus psaltria). Fringillidae) in the world.1 Its natural of longitude 106°W, while the green- Minutes later, the Lesser Goldfinch habitat is open woodlands and backed form occurs mainly farther returned and I took many more riparian areas, but it also occurs in west.4 Preferred habitats include pictures (Figure 2). The bird was not weedy patches of agricultural areas oak savannahs and woodlands.5 easily intimidated by more aggressive and at bird feeders in suburbs with The photographs (Figures 1-3) show birds, and at one point perched next ornamental trees and shrubs.2 Males clearly that the Yorkton bird was a to a House Sparrow at the feeder. are distinctive with their entirely black-backed male. The Lesser Goldfinch ate and drank black crowns; however, adult females Range limits can be quite dynamic his fill and flew about in the trees and immature birds resemble the and it is evident that the Lesser (Figure 3), spending approximately 40 American Goldfinch. Although the Goldfinch is extending its range minutes in my yard before carrying Lesser Goldfinch tends to be more northward, now breeding — at least on with his journey. After that visit, I greenish, the best distinguishing rarely — from the extreme southern continued to watch my feeders, trees, feature is the white patch at the base portion of British Columbia to shrubs and flower beds, but the bird of the primaries, which is best seen western Nebraska and southwestern never returned. Incidentally, I saw in flight.3 South Dakota.6,7,8 Beyond the 8 BLUE JAY WINTER 2020 VOLUME 78.4 FIGURE 2: Several images of the Lesser Goldfinch were obtained on 30 April 2020. Photo credit: FIGURE 3: The Lesser Goldfinch ate and drank his fill, and flew about in the trees, for approximately 40 Robert Holtkamp. minutes before leaving. Photo credit: Robert Holtkamp. breeding range, vagrants have been a bird collected by T.T. McCabe in 4. Willoughby EJ (2007) Geographic variation in color, measurements, and molt of the Lesser found across the United States to the British Columbia on 9 June 1931.10 Goldfinch in North America does not support Atlantic coast. There are scattered Since 2013, eBird data shows a subspecific designation. The Condor 109:419- records from Maine to Florida rapidly increasing number of Lesser 436. documented on eBird, while records Goldfinch observations in the 5. iBird Pro Guide to Birds. Field Guide to in Montana extend to within 60 km province and breeding was confirmed North America. Mitch Waite Group. iPhone of Saskatchewan. at Osoyoos in 2019.6 Application. In Alberta, a Lesser Goldfinch was 6. British Columbia Rare Bird Alert (2019) Two Previous hypothetical photographed at Cochrane on 15 new breeding records for BC! Blog post, http:// records in Saskatchewan May 2016.11 There have also been bcbirdalert.blogspot.com/2019/07/two-new- There have been two previous two records in Alberta reported with breeding-species-for-bc.html reports of a Lesser Goldfinch in photographs on eBird. One bird was 7. Silcock WR, Jorgensen JG (2020) Lesser Saskatchewan, although both are observed in Nacmine from 23 to 27 Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria), Version 1.0. hypothetical as they lack a specimen, In Birds of Nebraska — Online. https://birds. April 2014, and another bird was photo or song recording. The first outdoornebraska.gov/lesser-goldfinch/. reported in Mountain View from 13 was a bird with “bright green” upper to 14 May 2018. The only record east 8. Sohl TL (undated) Lesser Goldfinch Spinus parts, as well as two others with a psaltria. In South Dakota birds, birding, and of Saskatchewan is of a bird observed greenish tinge that were part of a nature. https://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/ in Toronto on 10 August 1982.12 lesser_goldfinch_info.htm goldfinch flock that John Douglas saw feeding on roadside wild This new, confirmed record for 9. Douglas J. (1998) Possible sighting of lesser sunflower seeds near Maple Creek in Saskatchewan therefore significantly goldfinch.Blue Jay 56(4):240. 9 extends the range of known vagrancy mid-August 1997. A more credible 10. Toochin R (undated, ca. 2013) Status and sighting was of a male of the black- for the Lesser Goldfinch. This appears occurrence of the Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus backed form seen briefly at a feeder to be only the second black-backed psaltria) in British Columbia. University of British Columbia online resource: https://ibis. in Weyburn on 14 August 2011 by male to be reported in Canada, the geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/documents/ 3 Carol Bjorklund. first being the Weyburn bird. LesserGoldfinch-RT-r.pdf 1. Wikipedia (2020) Lesser goldfinch. Records elsewhere in Canada 11. Lefebvre B (2016) Rare backyard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_goldfinch. bird: Lesser Goldfinch. Blog post, https:// R. Toochin compiled details for birdscalgary.com/rare-backyard-bird-lesser- 2. Watt D.J. and Willoughby E.J. (1999) 13 accepted and two hypothetical goldfinch/ Lesser Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria). In The records of Lesser Goldfinch in Birds of North America, No. 392 (Poole A. 12. Fraser DM (1984) Lesser Goldfinch southern British Columbia from 1931 and Gill F., eds). (Carduelis psaltria) at Toronto: Ontario’s first to 2013, with the majority appearing record. Ontario Birds 2:120-123. 3. Smith AR, Houston CS, Roy JF, editors since 2000. The first Canadian (2019) Birds of Saskatchewan. Nature record of a Lesser Goldfinch was of Saskatchewan, Regina. WINTER 2020 VOLUME 78.4 BLUE JAY 9.