Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.

In 2021, I released a Field Guide poster for the male lesser goldfinch of the western, “green-backed” race that I enjoy watching when they occasionally visit my California yard. Earlier this year, I released a poster featuring a male of the “black-backed” race from the eastern portion of the species’ range. Today, I’m looking at the female lesser goldfinch; interestingly, her plumage does not vary across race or region. Whether they’re in California, Texas, or Mexico, the females all wear olive, citron, and flax outfits. While these birds are often described as “dull,” I find the color column very appealing.

Why do we call this bird the “lesser” goldfinch? Size, mostly. It’s the smallest – though not by much – of our three North American goldfinch species, the other two being the American goldfinch (Spinus tristis) and Lawrence’s goldfinch (Spinus lawrencei). I’m not generally a fan of common names that convey meaning only in relationship to another animal or animals, but the species’ scientific binomial isn’t much better – Spinus psaltria translates as “female harp-playing spinos,” spinos being a Greek word for a now-unidentifiable bird species. Harumph. 😤 We’re about to rename a bunch of North American bird species; maybe names like “lesser” could be replaced in addition to all the people names? 🤷

Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).

Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.