The New Jersey state bird is a goldfinch. This small bird is also the state bird of Iowa and Washington state. It is identifiable by its yellow and black color. New Jersey named the goldfinch the state bird in 1935.
During summer months, the male goldfinch is bright yellow with a black forehead and black wings with small white areas on the tail feathers. The adult female has a duller yellow underside with an upper side of olive color. During winter months, both the adult male and female take on a less vibrant brown color with black wings.
This bird is small, with long wings and short tail. The body of the New Jersey state bird is usually around 4 to 5 inches long with a wingspan that can reach 9 inches. This tiny New Jersey bird weighs around 12 grams. The finch has a short cone-shaped bill and notched tail feathers.
The New Jersey state bird has a very distinctive song of twitters. The tunes are random and change regularly. The goldfinch learns new song patterns throughout its entire life. The goldfinch song can be a short twitter to a long song of rambling tweets. When the goldfinch is mating, it may sing a longer song of variable sounds, but as it nests, the tweets become much shorter.
Goldfinches enjoy spending time in weedy fields, under feeders and flying from branch to branch. They are quick-moving and bounce around in erratic flight patterns. They often sing in flight.
