Throughout Marin, there is a little yellow bird that the modern books miscall the lesser goldfinch. Miscall, because this bird is “lesser” in nothing but the insignificant comparison of size. I prefer ...

Probably, the American goldfinch should have been included in last week's column. It's another good starter bird, like the yellow warbler. It shouldn't be confused with the yellow warbler, though. The ...

Colors tend to be a confused issue in the bird world. Actually it’s in the bird-watcher world one finds the confusion. Birds don’t seem to have problems with the concept. Do you have any trouble ...

The bright yellow plumage of male goldfinches is a sure sign of spring. American and lesser goldfinches are common backyard birds and year-round residents of California. The easiest way to distinguish ...

If you hang a bird feeder outside your home, there’s a good chance that your first visitor will be some kind of finch. We have five kinds of finches in Marin: the reddish house finch and purple finch, ...

DEAR JOAN: During the recent cold snap I observed a small yellow finch sitting motionless on the walkway around the pool. I have a nyjer seed feeder in a maple tree on the other side of the pool, and ...

Quiz question: Name a bright yellow bird, one that seems invariably chipper, has an unusual diet, moves around in flocks of its own kind and lives among us in disguise all winter. If “male American ...

This brightly-coloured finch looks somewhat more exotic than the usual garden bird fare we're used to in Britain, but is a pretty common visitor, especially to those places with ready seed supplies ...

In my continuing watch for more signs of spring, I see the daffodils and rhubarb are up, my neighbor's crocuses and snowdrops are blooming, the pileated woodpeckers are drumming in the woods, and the ...