Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Spinus lawrencei

Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Spinus lawrencei, Females. Photographs taken within the bush of the greater Bahía de los Ángeles area, Baja California, October 2022. Photographs courtesy of George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles. Identifications courtesy of Mary & George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles.

Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Spinus lawrencei, Male. Photograph taken within a residential community in Hereford, Arizona, October 2009. Photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Behrstock, Sierra Vista, Arizona (naturewideimages.com).

Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Spinus lawrencei, Male. Photograph taken within the bush of the greater Bahía de los Ángeles area, Baja California, November 2022. Photograph courtesy of George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles, Baja California. Identification courtesy of Mary & George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles.

Background and Identification

Habitat and Geographical Range

Common Misidentifications

Conservation Status

Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Spinus lawrencei, is a member of the Fringillidae Family of Finches, Euphonias, and Allies, which has two hundred forty-nine members placed in forty-nine genera, and one of twenty global species of the Spinus Genus. They are known in Mexico as dominico de Lawrence.

Lawrence’s Goldfinch is small in stature known for its striking beauty. They are sexually dimorphic with the males being larger than the females and comprising 58% of the populations. During breeding season, the male has an overall grayish plumage with a back that is tinged olive-green that transitions to a yellow-green rump with a yellow patch on the central portions of the breast, yellow wing bars, and a yellow patch on the black wings; their head has a distinctive black face. The females are similar to the males however their heads are entirely gray, and the yellow areas are less pronounced. During nonbreeding season, the upperparts are browner and the underparts duller in both sexes. Their bill is conical and pale pink or brownish pink, their iris is dusky brown to brown, and their legs and feet are pink or brownish pink. They have drawn scientific attention due to the male yellow breast feathers are more resistant to wear than the surrounding gray feathers that generates a yellow patch size that enlarges as the season advances with the gray feathers become worn. In contrast, female breast feathers all wear uniformly producing an increasingly duller coloration.

Lawrence’s Goldfinch can be found during the winter in flocks of up to 700 birds within mixed flocks that include American Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, Lark Sparrow, and Lesser Goldfinch. They can be observed as individuals or in flocks perched on telephone wires within arid and open woodlands that have chaparral or brushy areas, tall annual weed fields and an accessible water source near the coast or within interior valleys at elevations up to 2,900 m (9,500 feet). They exhibit a gregarious personality. The Lesser Goldfinch is dominant over Lawrence’s Goldfinch and will displace it from food, perches, and nest sites. They are daytime feeders that feed as solitary individuals or in mixed species flocks. They consume seeds of annual plants, some perennials and are almost entirely granivorous, but also consume limited amounts of fruit pulp and herbaceous materials. On occasion they will visit bird feeders. They have a variable diet that changes seasonally. During nesting they feed primarily on seeds of native annual plants targeting Fiddleneck. During the winter they primarily consume chamise with limited amounts of other annual seeds, including inkweed, pigweed and star-thistle, and berries. They require access to free water to process seeds and maintain water balance and are found in close proximity to quiet streams, seeps, puddles, small ponds, and artificial water troughs. Lawrence’s Goldfinch roost in flocks that number more than 50 individuals in an isolated shrub. In the spring they break into monogamous pairs feeding in groups of less than 20 individuals. They breed in loose colonies, the male defending their territories, selecting trees that have other nesting species including Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna, and the Lesser Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria. Lawrence’s Goldfinch is poorly studied and very little has been documented about their biology and behavioral patterns.

Lawrence’s Goldfinch is found in the spring within the arid woodlands of northern Baja California where they breed. After breeding they become highly mobile and nomadic and generally move eastward through northern Mexico into Sonora and northwestern Chihuahua following food and water sources. They are also found seasonally in southern California and as far east at western Texas.

Lawrence’s Goldfinch is similar to the American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis, and the Lesser Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria, however the bright yellow patches on their wings are unique.

From a conservation perspective Lawrence’s Goldfinch is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are not overly abundant with currently populations estimated to be less than 200,000 individuals. Although they are difficult to monitor due to their nomadic lifestyle their populations have benefited by human development their long-term survival is threatened by the loss of oak woodland and chaparral habitats due to human developments.