Gray-crowned Goldfinch
Carduelis caniceps
Beautiful little finch with a sharp pink bill, cherry-red mask, and brilliant black-and-yellow flashes in the wings. Juvenile (seen in late summer and autumn) has a plain head but is told easily by bold wing pattern. Uses a wide array of wooded and open habitats, from forests and gardens to steppe grasslands and meadows; often feeds on seeding thistles. Forms flocks in autumn and winter, gathering at food sources. Can be inconspicuous, but often detected by pleasant bubbling and twittering calls and song.
Identification
Beautiful little finch with a sharp pink bill, cherry-red mask, and brilliant black-and-yellow flashes in the wings. Juvenile (seen in late summer and autumn) has a plain head but is told easily by bold wing pattern. Uses a wide array of wooded and open habitats, from forests and gardens to steppe grasslands and meadows; often feeds on seeding thistles. Forms flocks in autumn and winter, gathering at food sources. Can be inconspicuous, but often detected by pleasant bubbling and twittering calls and song.
Taxonomy
Genus: Carduelis; Family: Fringillidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Carduelis caniceps
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Carduelis
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Red-and-white Crake
Rufirallus leucopyrrhus
Uncommon and very difficult to see; usually detected by voice, a throaty chatter. Favors wetlands with tall coarse grasses. Note rufous head, brownish back, and white throat and breast with black-and-white broken stripes on the flanks and vent. Lacks the dark cap of the similar Rufous-sided Crake.
Dalat Bush Warbler
Locustella idonea
Skulky and secretive speciality of the Kontum and Dalat Plateaus, in Vietnam’s central highlands. Like other Locustella warblers, much more easily heard than seen: listen for its buzzy, repetitive “bizee, bizee, bizee, bizee”, typically given from within a dense clump of grasses or shrubbery. A patient birder, with some luck, may be rewarded with a brief glimpse of this elusive and range-restricted songster in its tangled haunts--a drab brown bird with a white throat and weak eye-ring. Formerly regarded as a subspecies of Russet Bush Warbler (and under which it may be listed under older field guides).
Sooty Ant-Tanager
Driophlox gutturalis
Rather large, chunky tanager endemic to northwestern Colombia. Unlikely to be mistaken. Male isall sooty gray with striking red throat and crest. Female is similar to male but slightly duller. Occurs in the lowlands up to around 1,100 m. Typically seen in pairs or small groups in the understory of forest, often near water. Frequently follows mixed-species flocks.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.