![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/american-goldfinch-4272-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-goldfinch-4272-ron-dudley\\"")
For the sake of comparison here’s an adult male in breeding plumage. Females and adult males when not in breeding plumage are\u00a0much less bright than this guy\u00a0but the patterns remain\u00a0quite similar.<\/p>\nFor some reason I seldom see and rarely photograph juvenile American Goldfinches. Until recently I didn’t realize how striking and distinctive their wing patterns and colors\u00a0are and how different they are from the adults.<\/p>\n
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For the sake of comparison here’s an adult male in breeding plumage. Females and adult males when not in breeding plumage are\u00a0much less bright than this guy\u00a0but the patterns remain\u00a0quite similar.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/american-goldfinch-9871-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-goldfinch-9871-ron-dudley\\"")
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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But the juveniles look much different.<\/p>\n This unusually cooperative\u00a0juvie appeared right in front of my lens four days ago in the Wasatch Mountains and proceeded to give me some nice poses. The photos are of the BOS variety (bird on a stick) but that’s perfect for my purposes here.<\/p>\n The whites of the adult male are instead a buffy color in the\u00a0juvenile\u00a0and his jet-blacks are brownish-black in the youngster. And the bright yellows of the adult male are brown overall in the young bird. But I think it’s the more complex\u00a0patterns on the wings and tail, even more than the colors, that struck me most. I really had no idea…<\/p>\n Personally I prefer the juvenile to the adult male aesthetically. Males in breeding plumage are just a little garish for my tastes (for what that’s worth and not that it really matters).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I thought I’d throw in a side view of the same bird to give you a more complete look at the immature goldfinch. Here it’s fluffed up a little.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On another subject I thought I should mention that my\u00a0recent opportunities with\u00a0large numbers and a good variety of\u00a0birds have quickly\u00a0gone to hell in a handbasket.\u00a0For the last couple of weeks I’ve been spoiled by almost a glut of songbirds in the mountains feeding on ripening\u00a0berries and I’ve taken full advantage of the situation.\u00a0Many days it’s been a little smoky from the California fires but it’s been manageable for photography most of the time, especially in the mountains above some of the smoke in the valleys.<\/p>\n But recently many wildfires have erupted in southern and central Utah and monsoonal “moisture” (we’ll see about that up here but they’re being flooded in southern Utah) and the accompanying south breezes have brought dense smoke our way.\u00a0Yesterday our air was absolutely\u00a0disgusting in both the mountains and the valleys\u00a0and forecasters say there’s no relief in sight.<\/p>\n It’s mostly a waste of time and gas to try to photograph birds in that smoke so I feel like I’m grounded and yes I’m a little\u00a0cranky about that. So eventually\u00a0I may have to resort to posting\u00a0a few\u00a0older photos again.<\/p>\n Smoke and s*** happen.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For some reason I seldom see and rarely photograph juvenile American Goldfinches. Until recently I didn’t realize how striking and distinctive their wing patterns and colors are and how different they are from the adults.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/american-goldfinch-9890-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-goldfinch-9890-ron-dudley\\"")
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