I’ve been seeking out, identifying and photographing wild birds for over 15 years, but I’m not particularly adept at any one of these endeavors. That’s part of what makes “birding” fun as well as adventurous. Distinguishing one lookalike (or doppelganger) bird from another is, decidedly, an adventure. Here, I will examine some distinctive traits between several bird doppelgangers residing in northern Arizona.

I’ll start with an easy one, although at first, it wasn’t easy for me: doppelgangers lesser goldfinches and American goldfinches. At 5” in length, American goldfinches are a tad larger than lesser goldfinches, which are 4.5”. During breeding season male American goldfinches sport a bright yellow back and belly with highly contrasting black wings and a black cap on the forehead only.

See Full Page