There are 24 species of Goldfinch in the world, but there are 5 species in China. The finches prefer to stay in the plains or mountains. It usually breeds from March to July each year. Goldfinch is one of the common cage birds in northern China.

Goldfinch is distributed in eastern Asia, found in the lower Heilongjiang River Basin in the Russian Far East, Japan, Korea and the northern part of the Indochina Peninsula; in China, it is distributed in the eastern part of Northeast China, most of North China, and South China It can be seen everywhere, and its distribution in China reaches the western limit of Qinghai Province in the northwest and the Yunnan-Guizhou River in the southwest. Goldfinch food is mainly the seeds of trees and weeds, but also grains and insects.

Chinese name: Goldfinch

Chinese alias: Gold-winged, Green Sparrow, Luhua Oriole, Yellow Bullet bird, yellow nanbird, moraine weak, grain finch

English name: Goldfinch

Binomial method: Carduelis sinica

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Phylum Chordata

Subfamily Door: Vertebrata

Class: Aves

Subclass : Neornithes

Order: Passeriformes

Family: Fringillidae

Genus: Goldfinch Carduelis

Species: Goldfinch C. sinica

Distribution: Distributed in eastern Asia, found in the lower Heilongjiang River Basin in the Russian Far East, Japan, Korea and the northern Indochina Peninsula; distributed in the eastern part of China, found in most of Northeast China, most of North China, and all parts of South China , its distribution in China reaches the western limit of Qinghai Province in the northwest and the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan line in the southwest.

The male goldfinch has an eye first, gray-black around the eyes, forehead, cheeks, and ear coverts , The eyebrow area and the head side are brownish gray with straw yellow, the top of the head, pillow to the back of the neck is grayish brown, and the feather tips are yellowish green. The inner coverts on the back, shoulders and wings are dark chestnut brown, the feather margins are slightly stained with yellow-green, and the waist is golden-yellow-green. The short tail coverts are also greenish-yellow, the long tail coverts are gray with yellowish green, the central tail feathers are dark brown, the base is yellow, the feather edge and tip are gray-white, the rest of the tail is bright yellow at the base, dark brown at the end, and outer feathers Edge grayish white. The small and middle coverts on the wings are the same color as the back, the large coverts are also similar in color to the back, but slightly lighter, the primary coverts are black, and the small wing feathers are also black, but the base and outer feathers are green and yellow, and the wing horns are bright yellow. . The primary flight feathers are dark brown, the tip is gray-white, the base is bright yellow, and a large yellow wing spot is formed on the wings. Cheeks, chin and throat olive yellow, chest and flanks chestnut brown stained with greenish yellow or dirty brown and gray, lower chest and center of abdomen bright yellow, lower abdomen to perianal gray, bright yellow undertail coverts, underwing coverts and axilla The feathers are also bright yellow.

The female bird is similar to the male bird, but the plumage is darker, with dark vertical stripes on the top of the head to the back of the neck. The upper body is less golden yellow and more brown, and the waist is light brown and yellow-green. The underparts are also less yellow, only slightly yellowish and not as bright as the males.

The juveniles are similar to the females, but the plumage is lighter. The upper body is light brown with obvious dark vertical stripes, and the lower body yellow also has brown vertical stripes.

Iris chestnut brown, mouth yellowish brown or flesh yellow, feet light brown or grayish red.

Size measurement: body weight ♂15-22g, ♀15-21g; body length ♂116-145mm, ♀119-140mm; mouth peak ♂10-12mm, ♀9.5-12mm; wings ♂75-81mm , ♀73.2-82mm; tail ♂42-55mm, ♀43-54mm; ♂14-17mm, ♀14-17.5mm.

Migration: Resident, wandering in winter.

Habits: Often alone or in pairs, and also in groups in autumn and winter, sometimes in groups of dozens or even hundreds. When resting, they often perched on trees, and they also stayed on power lines for a long time. They mostly jump or fly between the branches and leaves of the canopy, and also go to the low shrubs and ground to move and forage. It flies fast, and its wings flap very fast, often making a whirring sound. The call is monotonous, clear and sharp, with a vibrato, like 'dzi-i-di-i'.

Food: Mainly feed on crops such as plant fruits, seeds, grasses and grains. The food eaten is almost all grass seeds, leguminous sprouts, barnyard tares, millet, millet, hemp seeds and other plants and crop seeds.

Goldfinch is very stable and can stay on wires for a long time. The finches often live alone or in pairs, sometimes as many as a dozen or even hundreds. Goldfinch breeding season is usually from March to August each year.

Goldfinches breed 2-3 litters a year. Most of them are 1-2 litters in the north and 2-3 litters in the south. In the north, the pairing begins as early as mid-to-late March, flying between the canopy layers, or the male birds show off around the female birds, flying and singing, chasing each other. Nests in the low hills and foothills of the conifer saplings and the broad-leaved trees such as poplars, fruit trees, banyans, and bamboo bushes. The nest is 1.2-5m above the ground. The nest is cup-shaped or bowl-shaped, mainly composed of twigs, grass stems, grass leaves, plant fibers, fibrous roots and other materials, sometimes mixed with cotton, linen, feathers and other materials. , animal hair and small feathers. The size of the nest is 7-11cm in outer diameter, 5-7cm in inner diameter, 5-8cm in height and 3.5-5cm in depth. The nesting is mainly undertaken by the females, and the males assist the females to carry the nest material. Each nest takes 7-8 days to complete. After the nest is built, it begins to lay eggs, and each nest lays 4-5 eggs. The eggs are oval in shape. The color of eggs varies greatly: some are gray-green or light green, with rust-brown or brown spots, especially the blunt ends are dense, often forming rings; some are green, green-white, duck egg blue or light red, Be spotted with brown, dark brown or purple. Eggs are 17.0-19mm x 12.4-14.5mm in size and weigh 1.6-1 g. Usually one egg is laid every day, mostly before 7:00. After the eggs are laid, the eggs start to hatch, which is borne by the female bird, and the incubation period is 13±1 days. The chicks are late bloomers. The newly hatched chicks weigh 1.2-1.3g. Except for the sparse gray down feathers on the top of the head, pillow, shoulders, wings and the center of the back, most of them are naked and featherless, with red skin and flesh. Birds jointly forage and feed the young, and stay in the nest for 15±1 days.