I saw these small birds on my walk today (1/1/2021).I initially assumed they were Lesser Goldfinches, and since I had many photos of earlier ones I didn’t really try to get images from other angles. Now as I look at the photos, and check Merlin Bird ID and Sibley I wonder if they could be American Goldfinches instead (perhaps “non-breeding” males or “immature”). Image 0214 shows the backside of one of them with wing details (close to an Anna’s Hummingbird).
Any opinions?
Thanks, Dean
The Big Year 2021 
Hmmm I think I would stick with Lesser Goldfinches due to the darker underside of the tails. There are different shades across the different birds, but looking at Sibley, the American Goldfinches tails would seem to have more white. Always hard to know though with nonbreeding/immatures options. – Alison
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Thanks Alison, good observation. With this input and further inspection of other groups of similar birds I am leaning towards the Lesser too.
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