Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The male can signal his quality and fitness, both in the short term (current body condition) and long term (genes), through ornamentation (bill color and plumage). [30] If a female accepts the male as a mate, the pair will fly in wide circles, as the male warbles throughout the flight. [13]
The lesser goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) is a small finch in the genus Spinus native to the Americas. As is the case for most species in the genus Spinus , lesser goldfinch males have a black forehead, which females lack.
On closer inspection, male European goldfinches can often be distinguished by a larger, darker red mask that extends just behind the eye. The shoulder feathers are black, whereas they are brown on the female. In females, the red face does not extend past the eye. The ivory-coloured bill is long and pointed, and the tail is forked.
The upper parts are greyish green and the under parts grey-streaked white. Its wings are black with a conspicuous yellow wing bar, and the tail is black with yellow sides. The male has a mainly yellow face and breast, with a neat black cap. Female and young birds have a greyish green head and no cap. It is a trusting, sociable and active bird.
Furthermore, male and female plumage is indistinguishable in ultraviolet and visible light. A study published in 1999 showed that male long-tailed finches were unable to determine the sex of unfamiliar members of their species unless the latter bird declared its sex by song. [11] Juveniles have black beaks and shorter tail feathers. [9]
American goldfinch (Spinus tristis) male (left) and female (right) in Johnston County, North Carolina, USA. The finches have a near-global distribution, being found across the Americas, Eurasia and Africa, as well as some island groups such as the Hawaiian islands.
In these cases, the male and female will be continuously assessing each other based on sexual characteristics. In the blue-footed booby , the females tend to choose males with brighter blue feet, because birds with brighter feet are younger, and thus have greater fertility and ability to provide paternal care. [ 3 ]
The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is more subdued in colouring, but both sexes have two contrasting white wing bars and white sides to the tail. The male bird has a strong voice and sings from exposed perches to attract a mate. The chaffinch breeds in much of Europe, across the Palearctic to ...