In the winter months, the differences in the male and female American Goldfinch are hard to distinguish.  They all take on a sort of drab yellowish-green look with not much color.  But in the spring, the males begin their transformation into a beautiful bird with a bright yellow breast and back accented by the black cap just above the beak.  As you can see in the picture, these male finches are looking real splotchy.  In a short time, though, the splotchy area will be bright yellow.  The female will remain the drab winter color year round.  This is definitely a species where the male is so much brighter than the female.

The Goldfinches look flashy and amazing as they flutter in numbers around the finch feeder.  It is phenomenal how much seed they can go through in only one day.  Once in a while they will have help from the Downy Woodpeckers and a few other small birds.  The Goldfinch is fond of nyjer seed, sunflower chips and if you have any thistles in your yard, you will definitely have finches too.  The only other bright yellow and black bird is the Evening Grosbeak, but it is much larger and has a black head with a yellow cap.

If you only feed the birds in the winter, you may never get to see the beauty that the male Goldfinch exhibits in the spring and summer.  Try leaving the feeder up all summer and you will be amazed and impressed with what you see.