Goldfinch - Latin name Carduelis carduelis

[Chocky]

Here are two views of a juvenile Goldfinch showing the feather detail and a view of one that has just reached adulthood
Males and females are very similar and have red faces but the female is just slightly lighter all over(with the red not quite reaching behind the eyes) making it very hard to distinguish between them unless they are sitting together.

[digidark]

Lovely pics Chocky.Did you use daytlight or have you a blip of flash in there.I ask cos you have some brill catchlights in their eyes

[Chocky]

Nope I just happened upon them and stopped dead. Now the adult in the above is the mother. I realized after that is why she is lacking the bright colours. I thought of course. I wonder if these are the Goldfinch I was watching in spring
This is a pair watching early in the spring. You can see the female is on the right and that her red facial area doesn’t go back as far as the male’s.
A few people think like other finches, that the female has a light brown head. But in the Goldfinch the female also has a red facial area and she is lighter

[Babs]

Great pics Chocky, I never knew that's how you told them apart, I'll have to look back at my goldfinch pics and see if I can spot the difference

[rolf]

Nice pics Chocky, I must confess to never having tried to tell the difference.

[Chocky]

Thanks. It is difficult .I spent such long hours watching a pair building a nest and I even have pics of them gathering nesting materials and of course watching theirbe havier sitting together , you can see the difference. These birds are so lovely

[rolf]

Their song is also lovely, very distinguishable as well.

[Chocky]

Yes. I always know if a tree is full of Goldfinch they sort of chatter musically difficult to explain