Nesting Habits of Yellow Finches

The Yellow Finch and American Goldfinch are the same bird. The Yellow Finch goes through plumage, mating and nesting changes with the seasons. If you set out bird food in the spring you will get to see the bright yellow and black of the male. In the summer, females are yellowish green with black wings and tail. As the season changes, the female becomes grayish brown with dark brown wings striped in white. The lifespan of a Yellow Finch is on average 4 ½ years. The oldest living Yellow Finch lived to be 11 years old.

  1. Nesting

    • The male waits until the female is finished building the nest to mate with her.

      The Yellow Finch nests in May or June in the west; in the east they wait until August. Yellow Finches nest on farms and backyards with gardens. The nest is built by the female. Both genders fly off to mate, then return two weeks later for the female to lay her eggs. The nest is made of weeds, vines and thistle material to create a web that is waterproof. It is not uncommon to see a Yellow Finch nest as close to the ground as 4 feet and as high up as 20 feet. Females lay as many as seven eggs, which are all light blue in color. The incubation period is 12 to 14 days. The female Yellow Finch spends 95 percent of her time incubating the eggs. The male feeds her and gives her the time needed for incubation. The young birds are ready to leave the nest 11 to 15 days after hatching. It is not uncommon to have a female lay two broods of eggs in one season.

    Feeding

    • Both male and female feed the baby birds.

      The male Yellow Finch feeds the female while she is incubating her brood. Much of the food supply comes from bird feeders that are ample all year round. Yellow Finches are attracted to bird feeders with thistle or hulled sunflower seeds. To feed their young, Yellow Finches regurgitate and drop the food in the baby bird's mouth a little at a time. Regurgitated food consists of seeds and small aphids. Each time the parent bird goes to the nest they feed the babies. During the winter Yellow Finches flock together and feed together without aggression.

    Mating

    • After mating the male feeds the female while she incubates her eggs.

      Yellow Finches mate away from their nest. The female Yellow Finch can have more than one male wanting to mate with her. The males will fight high in the air, engaging in short flutter fights. Some males literally chase the female for 20 minutes or longer in open fields trying to mate. Yellow Finches don't mate until late in the summer. Mating season commonly runs from July to September. A female can have two broods in one season.

    Habitat

    • The Yellow Finch is often seen in residential areas where food is plentiful.

      The Yellow Finch is comfortable in open spaces. It is common to see a Yellow Finch nest in a tree or shrub in a meadow, near a garden and around fruit trees. Yellow Finches use woodlands as a secondary habitat when necessary. In the West and Central United States, the Yellow Finch is an all year round bird, but in the East it is a seasonal bird. Birds in the North including Canada migrate south for the winter and return in the spring to their nesting grounds. Deforestation has not affected the Yellow Finch like other bird species; in fact, the finch has flourished as a result of deforestation. The Yellow Finch is very visible in residential areas because of the ample food supply from bird feeders.