Many people are familiar with these lemon-yellow birds of summer. However, when their bright colours are hidden from view under their drab winter coat, people do not always recognize them. It is then that they are frequently mistaken as baby Evening Grosbeaks or Yellow-bellied Flycatchers by those unaware that American Goldfinches spend the winter in Nova Scotia. You will not be fooled if you keep in mind that a flock of small greenish-yellow birds at a Nova Scotian feeder can only be American Goldfinches. If on the other hand you see only one greenish-yellow bird at the feeder or a flock not at a feeder you may be looking at one of the winter warblers or a Golden-crowned Kinglet. In this case, the short, stout, seed-cracking bill of the American Goldfinch will easily separate it from the thin, insect-eating bills of warblers and kinglets.

Like all winter finches, American Goldfinch numbers vary greatly from winter to winter, but even in the worst winters you should be able to attract a few to your yard. To find out if your yard is naturally attractive to American Goldfinches you may want to do a survey of the trees and other plants in your yard. If you do your survey when a blanket of snow is on the ground you can watch for seed coatings. Seed coatings are the tiny, paper-thin layer found on wild seeds that protect the seeds and keep them from getting wet and mouldy. American Goldfinches remove these seed coatings when feeding and if it is not too windy they float to the ground near the plant they have been feeding on. Look for seed coatings near patches of weeds and flowers, alder bushes and birch trees. The seed coatings will look like tiny pieces of peanut skins and are often slightly sunken into the snow. If your yard does not have any of the above-mentioned plants, you can still attract goldfinches using a seed feeder, as described for the Pine Siskin.