If you see a bright yellow flash in the fields around Lake Martin, there’s a good chance you’ve just glimpsed an American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis.

Although the males and females have different color patterns, both are yellow during the breeding season from spring to summer. Males have bright yellow bodies with black foreheads that can extend across the top of their heads like caps and black wings with white stripes. Breeding females are duller yellow with some olive or grayish feathers. They share the males’ black wings with white markings. During the fall and winter, American Goldfinches of both breeds become more faded or drab.