Sunny

American goldfinches are such a sunny yellow! The one on our right is a male that is not quite finished getting his breeding plumage. I'm unsure about the one on our left. If it's a female, it's brighter yellow than they usually are, even during breeding season. It could be a male that is less far along with his molt. Or perhaps an immature male? Males in breeding plumage are bright yellow/black/white. Females are much more olive, usually. In winter plumage males and females look very much the same - and quite olive. One interesting fact is that these birds don't actually start their egg laying until rather late in the summer - in order to have the various seeds that they prefer available to feed themselves and their young. They may be the only birds that I'm aware of that feed their young a diet entirely of seeds. Other typically seed eating adult birds feed their young insects because it makes a nutritious diet much easier to provide.