European Goldfinch

[Kerry Stone]

On the MD Birding Facebook group. Discussing whether this finch is an escapee or a wild bird. How would that question get resolved?  

“European Goldfinch at feeder in Columbia (Howard County) outside of Mother Nature’s store! 1/5/20”   

Happy New Year! 

Kerry Stone 

Montgomery County 

[Scott Young]

FYI: https://marylandbiodiversity.com/view/17912

10 Records apparently of this exotic in Maryland..

On the other hand, many eBird accepted sightings in the USA but none in MD, I believe.

From MOS Questionable Origin - Accepted species that may or may not be wild or naturally occurring list: European Goldfinch     Carduelis carduelis   P  2000     Accepted Record:   MD/1998-032 

Scott Young

Gaithersburg, MD

[Kurt Schwarz]

The locals have been looking since 3:30 with no luck.

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Kurt Schwarz
Ellicott City, Howard County
kurtschwarz4 at gmail dot com

[Clive Harris]

This would either be an escapee or from a feral population.  There is an extremely low, tiny, nearly zero probability that this is a naturally occurring vagrant.  If you look on eBird the records for this species in N America  - all of which seem to be the European or the western form, are concentrated around urban areas, indicating an escape or derived from escapees.  I suppose some of these, on the east coast, could possibly be ship assisted. 

Vagrant songbirds from W Europe have tended to occur in Newfoundland more than elsewhere in N America, and also have a decent number of records in Iceland. Neither is the case for this species.  

I had one turn up at my feeder in 1994 when I was living in DC. Quite the surprise.

Good birding 

Clive Harris

Cabin John, MD.

[Edward Boyd]

European Goldfinches have been breeding in the U.S. since about 2003. The population began near Dearborn, Michigan. They have expanded to northern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin. A review of images in the McCauley library will show images with flocks of birds. One image had a flock of nearly 100. 

In recent years, birds have also been reported in the Brooklyn area of New York. Going back a decade, there are reports throughout the northeast from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts. Very recently (December), there was a report from NE Philadelphia.

The population isn't yet countable. How long that will take, if it happens, is anyone's guess. These could be the next House Finches of the east. This bird is from a feral population and not an escaped cage bird.

Ed Boyd

Westminster- MD

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mdbirding/147788596.7544889.1609884526720%40mail.yahoo.com.

[Edward Boyd]

Sorry, in my last post I said, "This bird is from a feral population and not an escaped cage bird", which is very presumptive. I meant to say, This bird is MORE LIKELY from a growing feral population and not an escaped cage bird. 

Ed Boyd

[Clive Harris]

Interesting to see there are so many breeding now in Illinois.

Actually it turns out there is one record of the eastern population as well - a captured escapee at a bird observatory banding site! Shows that escapees can really get around:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S39404946

Best regards

Clive Harris

https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mdbirding/CAF%2BQhcXWB2%3DMJYTtsc1rJyqhS9KZZ2yuQ3JwTB9hRqj5H8Dnvw%40mail.gmail.com

.

[Edward Boyd]

Susan - The difference between an escape and a feral population is that an escape is considered to be a recent occurrence. A feral bird or population is one that has transitioned from being an escape to be self sustaining, living and breeding in the wild. Until a population is deemed to be established in its new environment it is considered to still be feral. This is also different from a naturally occurring vagrancy. The population in the Great Lakes is thought to have resulted from a flock released by a pet shop owner into the wild not long after the turn of the 21st century. This is how the eastern population of House Finches also began in 1940 from a release in the New York area when a store owner was advised that the Hollywood Finches he had for sale (as the House Finches were labeled for sale) were federally protected and he could be fined. Also, this isn't the first attempt of European Goldfinch to spread ferally. There was another population of European Goldfinches in New York and New Jersey back in that the turn of the 20th century from releases in the late 1800s. That population persisted for several decades before it eventually diminished and faded away. It was thought that trapping and habitat loss from rapid human expansion could have been the causes or major contributions of the population failure by the late mid-1900s. For anyone interested, here is an interesting article from a 2008 issue of North American Birds about the history of this species in the U.S., including the current population expansion. <http://fieldmarks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/EUGO-NAB.pdf>

As for the populations in the eastern half of the country, this ebird map shows the ebird reports in only the last decade:

The population in Michigan is rather thin but in northern Illinois and Wisconsin it is rather widespread and numerous, as in the population around the New York City area. It also looks as though the species is trying to get a foothold in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.

Ed Boyd

Wesminster, Maryland

[Clive Harris]

Dear Ed

I'm not sure if you are responding to the post about the bird captured at Manomet.  But the reason I posted that is that it is a caniceps European Goldfinch, part of the group of ssp from C Asia/S Siberia/Himalayas.  All the ones in N America, including the feral populations, are from the carduelis group, the W Palearctic cluster of ssp.  (The two look very different but intergrade so are currently not split.)  The Manomet bird is interesting as it is clearly an escape (not from the feral US populations and definitely not a natural vagrant given its range) but is behaving like a wild bird, turning up with American Goldfinches at a migration hotspot and probably quite some distance from where it was released.  

As to the Columbia bird, I don't think you can argue that its more likely from a feral population than an ecape.  There are practically no records of this species between here and the Midwest so its unlikely that is the source for this bird, given that they turn up at feeders and are very distinctive and would be noticed.  There is a cluster in Manhattan right now which also likely comes from a local release. As the article you circulated notes there are communities that purchase caged birds and release them. Its probably as likely that this is where this bird came from than that it is from a feral population.

Best regards

Clive Harris

Cabin John, MD

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mdbirding/CAF%2BQhcVT3Aj3tQPYuQ7LfkNH%3D%3D%2BfYOOCapwMGv2TDF903FpFHg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Mike Milligan]

So, at what point does a species go from feral to established? Who makes the call? What criteria does the IL-WI flock not meet, yet?

Mike Milligan

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mdbirding/CAF%2BQhcVT3Aj3tQPYuQ7LfkNH%3D%3D%2BfYOOCapwMGv2TDF903FpFHg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Matt Hafner]

Mike,

In North America, most people would follow the American Birding Association.  You can see their criteria determining established populations here. You can also see a list of species and populations that they consider established here.  

In Maryland, the MD/DC Records Committee, part of the Maryland Ornithological Society, keeps track of these.  If the populations of European Goldfinch were considered established anywhere in the United States (they aren't), the committee would review the available evidence to determine if vagrancy from one of the populations was more likely than a local release. 

This was done recently with Trumpeter Swans. Trumpeter Swans could certainly be local escapees, and some probably are, but the available evidence (including wing-tagged individuals) says that most are coming from the established Great Lakes population.  

Matt Hafner

Forest Hill, MD 

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[Mike Milligan]

Thanks, Matt.