Dennis Church (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)Ĭraves said there have been small colonies of the birds that died out in the United States in the past, so it may be unlikely that they spread as widely as other non-native bird species like the European starling and the house sparrow.Īt the time she first spotted a European finch nearly two decades ago, Craves was director of the Rouge River Bird Observatory at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. They want to know whether the birds will thrive and spread, or whether the colonies will remain concentrated in a small region. “It appeared when they were first released they spread out in every direction, but only in southeast Wisconsin and northern Illinois did they kind of set up shop, so this is where we are observing them year-round and observing nesting behavior and fledged young,” Anich said.Īnich and Craves are using data from volunteer bird spotters to try to monitor the population and keep an eye on nesting and feeding habits. Anich said they are well-adapted to Wisconsin’s climate. “Presumably most of these were intended to be sold as pets but either accidentally some escaped or perhaps some batch of them was intentionally released.”Įuropean goldfinches’ native range extends throughout Europe into northern Africa and central Asia. ![]() “It appears that about 60,000 birds were imported into northern Illinois,” Anich said. Anich said the man imported finches - which are popular in the pet trade - shipping the birds into the country through Los Angeles. The original source, Anich and Craves believe, is a bird breeder and importer based in the Chicago suburbs. “I most often see them if I’m on a hike along the Pike River.” “They are showing up at feeders more,” she said. “Word got out there and birders from all around started to come and see them because it’s a colorful bird, and they hadn’t seen them before,” Wenzel said.īut over the last several years, she said, the finches seem to have become a more common sight. The finches congregated at feeders on the store’s patio. ![]() She said the finches first began to be seen regularly several years ago outside a now-closed bird feed shop in Kenosha. Jennifer Wenzel of Caledonia is an avid birder who volunteered to collect data for the Atlas. Now, he and Craves estimate, the European finch population in the region likely ranges from several hundred “to the low thousands.”Īlthough there are scattered small populations of the birds elsewhere in North America, including a small colony in New York City, the greatest concentration continues to be in southeast Wisconsin and northern Illinois. The atlas uses data from volunteer birders to track bird populations and nesting activity in the state.Īnich said the Atlas completed in 2019 confirmed the finches were nesting in the region. Nicholas Anich is the Breeding Bird Atlas coordinator with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Since that first sighting, the finches - striking birds, a little larger than an American goldfinch, with red-and-black facemasks and gold and black wings - seem to have made themselves at home. American goldfinch Jo Zimny Photos (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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