PHOTO BY GARRY BRANDENBURG The American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) is today’s featured creature. All decked out in yellow head topped with a black cap, yellow flank and back, which is highly contrasted by its black wings with white bars makes this bird species a distinctive avian addition to any watch list. Goldfinches can and do overwinter in all the lower 48 states. Breeding range may expand further north into southern Canada. It is Iowa’s official State Bird, having been so designated by the legislature in 1933. Iowa shares goldfinch accolades with New Jersey and Washington.

The American Goldfinch was chosen for its official status because it was beautiful to look at, small and spunky in its behavior, and was commonly observed throughout the state, even for some that stayed all winter long.

History may have forgotten if there was competition for another species or two or three to become the State Bird. That is okay since it all boiled down eventually to an acceptable choice.

New Jersey named the “Eastern Goldfinch” its state bird in 1935. However, Washington State went through a different system. In 1928, school children were allowed to make the choice, and they overwhelmingly chose the meadowlark.

The meadowlark had already been so named by seven other states. A new vote in 1931 by the Washington Federation of Women’s Clubs settled on the goldfinch after much discussion on runners-ups like tanager, song sparrow, junco, and Pileated woodpecker.

Twenty years later, in 1951, the Washington Legislature left the choice up to school children. The “Willow Goldfinch,” as they locally called it at that time, was the children’s vote. The Legislature approved, and it became official for the State of Washington.

During the spring season, goldfinch males sing with much gusto, trying to attract a potential mate. However, nesting is a late summer when thistle and other weeds go to seed. Goldfinch nests are built in shrubs or saplings where two to three branches fork apart to become the framework for the collection of rootlets and plant fibers.

Plant down is used to line the nest cup, woven so tight that it could hold water. The female is the ‘umbrella’ to shed water from rains so that the eggs and nest cup stay dry. Clutch size can be two to seven palish blue eggs, each a bit over one-half inch long.

Incubation takes 12 to 14 days. Nestlings will hatch and stay until about 11 to 17 days old before beginning their life adventure in the real world.

A classic image of a goldfinch might be one sitting on the wind waving the top of thistle seed heads or other seed producing weeds. Yellow flower heads with a yellow bird sitting on top will make an excellent observation to help make your day brighter. Backyard bird feeders are also utilized readily and sunflower seeds will do nicely for them to eat.

Goldfinches are common and considered to have populations estimated at 42 million. According to the American Breeding Bird Survey, 91 percent spend some or most of their time in the U.S., 33 percent in Canada and six percent wintering in Mexico. Conservation agencies rank the population as stable.

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State bird designations got a lot of national promotion by the Federation of Women’s Clubs during the 1920s. A few states have a state bird and also a state game bird if hunting was of keen interest.

Examples include Alaska (Willow ptarmigan), California (California quail), and South Dakota (Ring-necked pheasant). No matter how the choices were ultimately made, state birds do help with tourism endeavors as brochures to entice one to visit can feature the state bird photo prominently on the cover.

I have just a few observations that counter the visitor’s guide state bird theme. I do not want to go to Rhode Island just to see a chicken, the Rhode Island Red.

I am sure there are a host of other avian critters that would be higher on my list in that state. In Utah, why is the California gull their state bird? Surely there is another species they could identify with, but it was their choice, not mine.

Arizona did not name a state bird until 1973. They settled on the Cactus Wren. That seems to make sense.

The Northern Mockingbird is the logo for Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee and Texas. The Northern Cardinal has claim to Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. The American Robin claims Connecticut, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

Game birds are also named for these states, in this case the wild turkey, in Massachusetts, Alabama, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. The Wood duck claims Mississippi and South Carolina.

Bobwhite quail state game birds go to Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee. Birds of prey have their admirers as Idaho claims the Peregrine falcon, New Hampshire the Red-tailed hawk, and Oregon’s tip of the hat to the Osprey.

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Iowa wild turkey hunting seasons are set to begin soon. April 7-9 is the youth season whereby an adult mentor may guide a young guy or gal into the forest or field edges in hopes of hearing, seeing and perhaps calling in a tom turkey.

Then beginning Monday, April 10, the first Iowa gun turkey season begins and runs through the 13th. Season two is the 14th through 18th; season three is the 19th – 25th, and the last season, number four, is April 26 through May 14.

Bowhunters have the full run of dates from April 10 through May 14. Of course archers have a very low success rate on putting an arrow into a tom turkey, but they enjoy the challenge of doing it the hard way. Just being outside during any of the turkey season times is a great excuse to be outside, whether with a gun or a bow.

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April bird arrivals begin a long list of feathered critters to watch for. These sure signs of spring are most welcome as the weather finally begins to settle down, we hope.

Just to make life interesting, however, Iowa weather extremes, certainly not normal, include April 6, 1982, when the air temperature in Manchester was tagged at nine below! At the other end of the thermometer, air at 100 degrees set records on April 22, 1980, at Fort Dodge and Waterloo, and there was the long three day period of blizzard conditions beginning April 9, 1973, that buried eastern and central Iowa under 20.3 inches of wind driven snow. Winds of 65 miles per hour made travel impossible.

Birds who might be migrating at such times just hunkered down and waited. More normal and average conditions are the rule, thankfully. Mid April is a good time to watch for shorebirds returning. Mid April will see garter snakes awakened from their winter hibernation chambers. Bald eagle eggs will be hatching mid month. Check out the Decorah, Iowa eagle nest cameras to see first hand how a bald eagle pair takes to the task of raising a new generation.

The following list of April bird arrivals has lots of names, not all, but many to see Iowa waterways, ponds, lakes, wetlands, and grasslands as a new year begins. Look for Ruddy ducks, Swainson’s hawks, King and Virginia rails, American woodcock, Upland plover, Eastern sandpiper, Greater yellowlegs, Herring gull, Common tern, Eastern whip-poor-will, Chimneyswifts, Yellow-bellied sapsucker, all the swallow species, Wrens, Brown thrasher, Hermit thrush, Kinglets, Warblers of many species through mid May, and sparrows such as the Chipping, Clay colored, Field and Eastern Fox sparrow.

If you can’t find an excuse to be outside in Iowa during April, just try watching birds.

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April day lengths will make big leaps during the next 30 days. April 1 was 12 hours and 41 minutes long. By the 30th, it will be 13 hours and 59 minutes. Sunrises will begin at 6:54 a.m., and by the 30th will have advanced to 6:08 a.m. Sunsets were at 7:53 p.m. on the 1st and will go to 8:37 p.m. on the 30th.

Extrasolar and increasingly more direct light will warm the soil, wake up every green plant, every frog in any waterway, pond or lake, and make morel mushrooms pop out of the forest leaf litter. Fish will continue to move upstream from winter honey holes to disperse into new aquatic habitats. Tree leaves will begin to emerge, grow and unfold to catch sunlight to begin photosynthesis again for a new year.

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Also in the news are continuous doom and gloom scenarios blaming atmospheric carbon dioxide levels for any fill-in-the-blank topic that alarmists wish to propagandize. If critical thinking skills had ever been taught in grade school, high school, or college/university settings with regard to the essential need to examine all the evidence before drinking the Kool Aid of political correctness regarding climate changes, it sure seems like society has sold its soul to the politicians and the ‘we must control you’ crowd.

Here is what you will not hear on mainstream news outlets because it does not fit the narrative they want to peddle.

“The warming effect of each molecule of carbon dioxide decreases logarithmically with increasing concentration. And that is why there was no ‘runaway global warming’ in the past when carbon dioxide concentrations exceeded 5,000 parts per million during previous geologic epochs,” said geologist Gregory Wrightstone.

And another closing comment holds true. Thus it is worthy of all good folks to seek out the evidence and facts first before making ill thought out national and state policy decisions regarding the climate agenda.

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary… The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.” — H.L. Mencken

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Garry Brandenburg is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology.

Contact him at:

P.O. Box 96

Albion, IA 50005