This Morning Outside

by Diane Porter

September 27, 2011
Birdwatching Dot Com
Fairfield, Iowa

This goldfinch at my birdbath sure needs a new coat. What a scruffy-looking bird! Fortunately, the new coat is on its way. Every gold feather will be pushed out of its shaft by a new, though less colorful, replacement. You can see some of the drabber new feathers coming in on his back. And check out his pins, those little white cylinders on his wings, from which new feathers will unpack.

American goldfinches' winter feathers make a thicker coat than the next new set of feathers, which will arrive in the spring.

Photos copyright 2011 Michael and Diane Porter

—Diane Porter

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