All other plumages can be separated from the lesser goldfinch by their bolder wing pattern and white undertail coverts. The female Lawrence’s goldfinch is gray like a nonbreeding adult female ...

The female American goldfinch is larger and has white undertail ... A very pale female lesser can show whitish undertail coverts, but it has a different wing pattern than all Americans and is ...

The American goldfinch prefers to nest in shrubbery, making them difficult to spot. The Lesser goldfinch, alternatively, ...

Stop-and-go traffic is the norm when Alan McCoy is birding. Especially on the relatively empty back roads near his home south of Spokane. He's always scanning the sky, the trees and the power lines.