Brown Finches That Turn Yellow

American Goldfinch

• Brown finches that turn yellow are American goldfinches. These 4- to 5-inch-long birds, with a wingspan of 7 to 9 inches, change from having dull winter feathers to brilliant breeding plumage in the spring. American goldfinches are unique in that all four subspecies molt in both spring and fall.

  In September, following the breeding season, American goldfinches shed their feathers completely. Males lose their canary yellow plumage. Their black wings and tails, marked with white bars, turn dull black, with buff-colored bars. They regrow dull, medium-brown or tan body feathers with an olive tinge and some yellow at the shoulders and face. They lose their black caps completely.

  In spring, American goldfinch males transform into breeding birds with brilliant lemon yellow feathers. Their bright white rumps, contrasting with their bright black and white wings and tails, are visible in flight. Males grow black caps as they adopt plumage designed to attract a female. Even their bills change from black to a brilliant orange for the breeding season, from July to September.

  Females are a dull yellow-brown shade all year; their plumage does turn slightly more yellow after the spring shed.

Juvenile Goldfinch

• Brown finches that turn yellow also include young American goldfinches, whose first feathers are dull olive brown and black with pale yellow undersides. The immature goldfinch's wings are dull black with buff-colored bars, and they have dull black shoulders that distinguish them from adults. They make the characteristic chick-kee call for a month while their father continues to feed them. Then they are completely independent of their parents.

  In their first spring, young American goldfinch males shed the olive brown feathers and grow the bright yellow mating plumage to attract females in the goldfinches' breeding range, which is from southern Canada to America, north of the Gulf states.

Red Factor Canaries

• Color Bred Canaries have been bred genetically in a variety of colors. A member of the finch family, the Red Factor Canary depends on diet to produce its reddish feathers. If the canaries do not get a diet rich in carotenoids from beets, sweet potatoes, berries, tomatoes, squash and cherries enhanced by cayenne pepper and paprika, canthaxanthin and beta-carotene, their feathers will revert to yellow when they molt.