We should have realized this sooner but we consider American Goldfinches to be migratory around here. They look like the photograph just above, they show up in the fall and hang around until March or April. So when we saw a bright yellow bird this morning we weren't sure what it was. It was like the illustration at the top of the post - so it's an American Goldfinch! The deal is that they have a summer plumage and a winter plumage! They're also considered to be non-migratory but, around here, they are - at least the population we see decreases dramatically in the spring and summer. They are very striking in their summer plumage - and that's the answer to the question "Why do our goldfinches look different from the pictures in the books?".
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