Now we're talkin' ancient history. I just pulled out my 2nd edition 47th
printing Field Guide to the birds by Rodger Tory Peterson. Copyright 1947.
The second revised and enlarged Edition. In those olden times European
Goldfinch was Illustrated along with the other American species. It had
been introduced very early on into New York State.
Here's what it says " naturalized in Bermuda small colonies established on
South East Long Island"
That is back in the time of introducing a variety of European birds into
America and this one was successfully introduced for a fairly long time
into the New York area. But to the extent that modern field guides do not
even list it, it apparently eventually died out there.
This parallels in a way the introduction of Crested Myna into the
Vancouver area in Canada. Some years ago I had the Good Fortune to see the
last pair before they went extinct in North America. It had been an ABA
countable species there for decades
Now European Goldfinch had a good run in New York who's ecology is not all
that different from Oregon. About the same latitude, same annual amount of
rain, although not spread out as much as Oregon. Etc.
Along with mandarin duck I'd say it's chances of being established in
Oregon are fair to poor
Bob O'Brien Carver Oregon
On Wednesday, March 18, 2020, Jeff Gilligan <jeffgilligan10@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
A question about how Eurasian Goldfinch might fit into our ecosystem if it
expands its presence in North America. I have seen them in Europe in
several countries but don’t recall if they were generally in the types
habitats where American Goldfinches nest. Visiting an aunt and cousins in
suburban Pittsburg the past two summers, I was surprised by how the
American Goldfinches there were in habitats with large trees, though not
dense forests, while ours are mainly in brushy edges to grassy open places,
or emergent low brush and trees during nesting season. In my experience, in
winter they often are in large seed producing trees in Portland, but never
nest in such areas. My impression of the eastern American Goldfinches is
that they use the habitat in summer that I think is typical of Lesser
Goldfinches in the Portland area. Maybe they also use habitats in summer
similar what they use in Oregon, but the Pittsburg area has little of such
habitat. I never considered the matter when I have seen Eurasian
Goldfinches in Europe. Does anyone have an opinion about this?
Jeff Gilligan
On Mar 18, 2020, at 10:13 AM, Paul Sullivan <paultsullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
The presence of European Goldfinches in Wisconsin led me to look at the
eBird map for the species. https://ebird.org/species/eurgol
There is a concentration of the species in northern Illinois and
Wisconsin, plus Detroit and New York, with scattered sightings from
Virginia to New Hampshire. One possible sighting west of the Mississippi
south of St. Louis, and many in California, especially the Bay Area.
Paul Sullivan
*From:* Paul Sullivan [mailto:paultsullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxx
<paultsullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]
*Sent:* Tuesday, March 17, 2020 8:47 PM
