American Goldfinch
(Spinus tristis)

Overview

Summary

© Dan Busby
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The American Goldfinch breeds across southern Canada, from the east to the west coast. The Breeding Bird Survey indicates that populations within Canada have shown little overall change since about 1970, though the species has shown significant regional decreases, particularly in the west. The American Goldfinch is thought to have benefited in some areas from alterations brought to the landscape by humans; there is little cause for conservation concern for this abundant species.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1970-2016)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation

General nesting period in Canada

Conservation and management

Like many of the songbirds of brushland or early successional habitats, the American Goldfinch benefited from forest-clearing for farmland and community development (McGraw and Middleton 2017). However, the species is thought to be negatively affected by habitat loss due to intensification of agriculture and urbanization, as well as by predation by domestic cats (McGraw and Middleton 2017).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• McGraw, K.J., and A.L. Middleton. 2017. American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis), version 2.1. In: The Birds of North America (P.G. Rodewald, ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. McGraw, K.J., and A.L. Middleton. 2017. American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis), version 2.1. In: The Birds of North America (P.G. Rodewald, ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. (Link)