It's not an easy thing to tell the difference between a male and a female European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis), not just because they are never still at the feeder, their heads jerking from side to side and they keep a safe lookout, or because they fly to and fro so rapidly. When they are still, they are also difficult to tell apart. From what I can gather, the easiest (and it's not really easy) way to identify male from female is by the red on the face. It is suggested on the internet that the red on the male's face will extend a little beyond the eye while the red of a female goldfinch's face does not extend beyond the eye. I've posted a few photos I have taken in which I believe that the one on the left of the image is male and the one on the right is female. Could be wrong, of course, but I don't think so.
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| Male European goldfinch (left) and female European goldfinch (right) |
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| Male European goldfinch (left) and female European goldfinch (right) |
There is, apparently, also some slight difference on the face, above the beak, and on the wing. For some excellent information, far more than I can give you here, check out this YouTube video about the European Goldfinch by Maurice Baker.
I've embedded the video below (scroll down). Hope it shows up ok, Blogger has been giving problems over embedded videos but anyway the link will take you there.
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| Male European goldfinch (left) and female European goldfinch (right) |