Description

I was surprised by the appearance of a European Goldfinch during the February 15, 2016 snowstorm. This bird appear two weeks before during another snowstorm, but then disappeared. I had no idea what species this bird was, except it looked somewhat similar to a Goldfinch and it seemed to feed with the American Goldfinches. I looked it up in my mid-Atlantic field guide and in my eBird app, but could not find it. After searching images online, I was finally able to identify the bird and learned it was NOT native to the United States and probably originally entered through the pet trade. After a few days it was gone, but then it suddenly showed up during the 2nd snow storm right outside my window. It appeared to be curious about me as it watched me watching him for a few minutes. This male fed throughout the day at several of my feeders and the day after the storm and has disappeared again.

Category

Week 15: The Unexpected

Tags

• Winter
• snow
• Goldfinch
• Yellow
• Finch
• unexpected
• European Goldfinch
• Red-faced
• Surprise Guest
• Non-native