Lawrence's Goldfinch Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: I feel very fortunate to have photos of this species, given that I've never been in the southern half of California. While they do spend most of their time there, they also make unpredictable winter movements to the east, into southern Arizona. In November of 2015, I had a work trip in Tucson, Arizona, and took 2 extra days of my own time to go birding. I knew birders were reporting it was a good "irruption" year for Lawrence's Goldfinch into the area, so one morning I specifically went to "Tanque Verde Wash" in Tucson to try to find ones that had been reported there. To be honest, I rarely have luck going to try to find specific birds like that! However, luck was with me on this day, as there was a small flock of about a dozen Lawrence's Goldfinches that were feeding on seeds in the area. A very chilly morning by Tucson standards, with temps hovering right around freezing, but it was worth the cold to be able to see these guys for the first time.

Lawrence's Goldfinch - Spinus lawrencei


Lawrence's Goldfinch 1 November 2015 Tucson, Arizona	Lawrence's Goldfinch 2 November 2015 Tucson, Arizona	Lawrence's Goldfinch 3 November 2015 Tucson, Arizona

Lawrence's Goldfinch 4 November 2015 Tucson, Arizona	Lawrence's Goldfinch 5 November 2015 Tucson, Arizona	Lawrence's Goldfinch 6 November 2015 Tucson, Arizona