My Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Birds has this information of one of Michigan’s most colorful and striking perching birds.
Smaller than a sparrow. Breeding male bright yellow with a white rump, black forehead, white edges on black wings and tail.Habitat: brushy thickets, weedy grassland, and nearby trees.
Love-Struck American Goldfinch
Nesting: 4 or 5 pale blue eggs in a well-made cup of grass, bark strips, and plant down placed in the upright fork of a small sapling or shrub.
Often called the “wild canary.” Since their main food is seeds, nesting does not begin until midsummer when seeds are available. Because they nest so late, only a single brood is raised each season.
Yesterday, I found this male offering his rendition of a happy, spring love song.
