Carduelis lawrencei

Geographic Range

Lawrence’s goldfinches ( Carduelis lawrencei ) are found primarily in California - specifically Baja California. In summer, Lawrence’s goldfinches are also found in the central valley and in the foothills of Sierra Nevada. In winter, they will migrate from the inland, northern, and central areas of California to the coastal parts of southeastern California. Some Lawrence’s goldfinches move east toward southern Arizona or New Mexico. Others migrate south to northern parts of Sonora and Mexico. Few Lawrence’s goldfinches are observed in winter since many migrate to Sonora or Mexico, which are areas not well covered by naturalists. The biggest migration occurs during periods of high rain; this is seen in many species of seed-eating birds.

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic nearctic
  • native native
• neotropical neotropical
  • introduced introduced
  • native native

Habitat

Lawrence’s goldfinches are found in habitats that are associated with oak trees. They are primarily found in central and southern oak woodlands or chaparrals. Central oak woodlands are primarily located in the San Joaquin Valley, while southern oak woodlands are found in lower elevation areas in southern California. Chaparral habitats exist in areas on the coast and in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Lawrence’s goldfinches tend to nest in dry, open woodlands like the ones stated above. They like to nest in woodland areas that have chaparrals as well as areas that contain a source of freshwater. Lawrence’s goldfinches also nest in habitats such as juniper woodlands and coastal scrublands. When they do live near humans, Lawrence’s goldfinches tend to stay around ranches, where they are able to feed in weedy fields. When Lawrence’s goldfinches are not breeding they tend to live in habitats that are similar to the habitats they nest in. In addition to those habitats, Lawrence’s goldfinches make nests in river floodplains, weedy fields, roadsides, orchards, and gardens.

• Habitat Regions
• temperate temperate
• tropical tropical
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• desert or dune desert or dune
• savanna or grassland savanna or grassland
• chaparral chaparral
• forest forest
• scrub forest scrub forest
• mountains mountains

• Wetlands
• marsh marsh

• Other Habitat Features
• urban urban
• suburban suburban
• agricultural agricultural
• riparian riparian

Physical Description

Lawrence’s goldfinches average 4.75 in in length and weigh approximately 110 g. The beaks of both sexes are grey with some pink or flesh coloration. They have black tails with white bands and yellow wings, bottoms, and breasts. They have a duller plumage color in winter, which usually brightens after spring. Lawrence’s goldfinches display some sexual dimorphism. Males have black faces and are paler than females. Females are more brown in color and lack the black coloration of males. Females also have a duller color of yellow.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

Reproduction

In spring, flocks of Lawrence’s goldfinches settle in busy nesting areas, after which pairs form. During this time of year, males are not tolerant of rivals within their flock and may even attack other males. Usually, such aggressive behavior begins with a threat display in which males lower their wings, raise their tails, and move side to side while singing.

Males also use singing to attract females. During courtship displays, males and females face each other with their bills touching and bow. Males regurgitate food for females. Males also chase females during flight and it has been said that they also mate with females during flight. When they are receptive to mating, females vibrate their wings and raises their tails.

After Lawrence’s goldfinches form pairs, females gather material to build nests. They are usually accompanied by their male mates when doing so. Males typically accompany females and sing while they are building nests. Males defend nests while females lay eggs. After eggs are laid, males become less aggressive and share incubation duties with females. Different pairs within the same species nest next to one another without conflict, as evidenced by observations of small colonies of nests. Paired males and females continue to bond throughout the remainder of the nesting season. They continue to rub bills, chase, and call to each other. They have even been observed to mate after previous offspring have hatched.

• Mating System
• monogamous monogamous

Lawrence’s goldfinches typically breed once per year, in spring. Females lay broods of 3 to 6 eggs, which take an average of 12.5 days to hatch. It takes several weeks for young Lawrence’s goldfinches to fledge and reach independence. They are considered sexually mature after 6 to 12 months.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• oviparous oviparous

Both male and female Lawrence’s goldfinches help take care of hatchlings, bringing food and defending their nests until young are independent and capable of leaving the nest on their own.

• Parental Investment
• altricial altricial
• male parental care male parental care
• female parental care female parental care
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-independence
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• post-independence association with parents

Lifespan/Longevity

Information on the average lifespan of Lawrence’s goldfinches is minimal. The maximum recorded age of one individual was 11 years old. The average lifespan is estimated to be 3 to 6 years in the wild.

Behavior

Lawrence’s goldfinches forage on the ground and along branches – hopping between them. They are agile, which is typical for finches. When flying, they beat their wings quickly to gain altitude and then rest before beating their wings again. This results in a sinusoidal flight pattern. Lawrence’s goldfinches engage in preening, head scratching, bathing, and stretching behaviors. The warmth of the sun tends to induce preening and they bathe in shallow water - puddles with depths of about 0.1 cm. When bathing, Lawrence’s goldfinches dip their heads and lower breasts into the water and fluff their feathers. Females will occasionally sleep in nests while incubating eggs during the day. Lawrence’s goldfinches also regularly sunbathe, mostly during the first couple hours of sunlight and in the afternoon. Most other activity also occurs in the early morning and late afternoon.

• Key Behaviors
• arboreal arboreal
• flies
• diurnal diurnal
• motile motile
• sedentary sedentary
• territorial territorial
• social social

Home Range

Although no exact range is reported, Lawrence’s goldfinches defend a territory during breeding season. Outside of breeding season, both males and females travel outside of their typical range to forage with their flock.

Communication and Perception

Males sing a long variety of pitched notes that result in tinkles and trills. They have a higher pitch and a sing more musically when compared to other goldfinches. They also imitate other bird species such as wrens, thrushes, and falcons. Distinctively, these birds give out a "tink-oo" sound prior to flight. They rarely give out harsh alarm calls and contact calls as these are left to nesting seasons.

Lawrence’s Goldfinch respond to auditory cues from other goldfinches, as well as virtually simulated calls made by researchers. During nesting seasons, response to the auditory cues of other finches is likely to be vital to help search for mates. Similar to other goldfinches, Lawrence’s goldfinches call using rising pitches that nestlings develop as they grow. Since both mother and father take care of them, nestlings generally develop chirping sounds that are similar to their parents. Some studies show that Lawrence’s goldfinches imitate bird songs of other species by incorporating them into their own unique songs. These species cover a wide range geographically, thus the species that are imitated vary widely.

• Communication Channels
• visual visual
• acoustic acoustic

• Other Communication Modes
• mimicry mimicry

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Lawrence’s goldfinches are primarily herbivorous. Their diet mostly consists of plant buds and certain fruits. They do not eat insects often, with the exception of the larvae of jumping gall wasps ( Neuroterus saltatorius ). Similar to American goldfinches, they often eat seeds whole. They may also husk seeds quickly before swallowing them. When feeding, Lawrence’s goldfinches will perch themselves inside the plant they are eating from. They can also feed hanging upside-down in order to reach seeds. In springtime Lawrence’s goldfinches primarily feed on the seeds of fiddlenecks, although most are now endangered and therefore scarce. Other food sources include chamise, mistletoe, coffeeberry, pigweed, inkweed, and thistles.

• Primary Diet
• herbivore herbivore
  • granivore granivore

• Animal Foods
• insects

• Plant Foods
• seeds, grains, and nuts

Predation

The most common predators of Lawrence’s goldfinches are American kestrels ( Falco sparverius ), various weasels (Genus Mustela ), blue jays ( Cyanocitta cistata ), and eastern garter snakes ( Thamnophis sirtalis ). Both domestic and feral cats ( Felis catus ) prey on Lawrence’s goldfinches. These predators will destroy nests and crack eggs, which kills hatchlings. Adult Lawrence’s goldfinches will sometimes chase predators away from their eggs. Also, the nests of these species are commonly built in trees which reduces the risk of predation from terrestrial animals.

Ecosystem Roles

Because they can fly long distances and their diet mainly consists of nuts and seeds, Lawrence’s goldfinches serve as effective seed dispersers. This plays an important role in the health of their habitats. Along with other goldfinch species, brown-headed cowbirds tend to parasitize the nests of Lawrence's goldfinches. They also have a few known external parasites, including blowfly maggots ( Protocalliphora azurea ) and quill mites ( Aulobia cardueli ). Lawrence’s goldfinches also serve as hosts for internal parasites such as avian trichomoniasis ( Trichomonas gallinae ), which are known to cause intestinal issues in this species.

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Lawrence’s goldfinches are found mainly in California and are usually found near areas with water. They are popular among birdwatchers, since they can often be found eating from bird feeders in back yards.

Lawrence’s goldfinches are not known to be threatened by human activity. It is even said that deforestation may be beneficial to these species, since it will result in a decline in neotropical migrants. Such a decline would benefit short-distance migrants such as Lawrence’s goldfinches.

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

There are no known negative impacts of Lawrence’s goldfinches on human health or economy.

Conservation Status

Like many other Goldfinch species, Lawrence’s Goldfinch is protected under the Migratory Bird Act. They are considered a species of “least concern” on the IUCN Red List and have no special status on the US Federal List or in the CITES appendices.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Ashley Victorian (author), California State University, San Marcos, Tracey Brown (editor), California State University, San Marcos, Galen Burrell (editor), Special Projects.

References

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Clement, P., A. Harris, J. Davis. 2010.

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Davis, J. 1999. Lawrence’s Goldfinch. In the birds of North America.. Birds of the World , 480/2: 1-20.

Dawson, W. 2014. Pine Siskin Spinus Pinus. In the birds of North America , 12/1: 268.

Eastman, J. 1997. Birds of Forest, Yard & Thicket.. The Condor , 45/3: 121.

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Jardine, D. 2014. On the spring-squall arrival of a pine siskin (Carduelis pinus). Counterpoints , 452/2: 27-37.

Linsdale, J. 1957. Goldfinches on the Hastings Natural History Reservation. Am. Midl. Nat. , 57/1: 1-119.

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Mobley, J. 2019. "Long-tailed tyrant" (On-line). Birds of the World. Accessed March 05, 2020 at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/lottyr1/cur/introduction?media=photos .

Semenchuck, G. 1992. The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Alberta. Federation of Alberta Naturalist , 12/2: 356.

Willoughby, E., M. Murphy, H. Gorton. 2002. Molt, Plumage Abrasion, and Color Change in Lawrence’s Goldfinches. The Wilson Bulletin , 114:3: 380-392.

2016. Birdlife International . The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.