Breeding Status and Distribution of Lawrence’s Goldfinch in Arizona

TROY E. CORMAN and KURT RADAMAKER

Lawrence’s Goldfinch (Carduelis lawrencei) is
typically a bird of the oak belt in cismontane California and
northwestern Baja California. This species breeds sporadically in the
southern regions of California, where it prefers riparian and open
woodlands of arid and semiarid foothills and valleys, usually near water
(Small 1994). Even within their normal California range, the breeding
status and distribution of these goldfinches is poorly understood.
Lawrence’s Goldfinch seasonal distribution is erratic; they may appear
in an area to breed (sometimes in considerable numbers) for a season or
two, and thereafter not return to that location to nest for a number of
years (Small 1994).

Adult female Lawrence’s Goldfinch at Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Pinal County 10 April 2005

These goldfinches also stage unpredictable fall and winter
incursions into the eastern Sonoran Desert regions, particularly in
southern Arizona and northern Sonora (Monson and Phillips 1981, Russell
and Monson 1998, Patten 2001). From year to year, their numbers will
vary, with some years having large influxes reaching localities as far
north in Arizona as the upper Verde River and Oak Creek drainages, east
to New Mexico, and occasionally western Texas. Local congregations at
favorite foraging areas sometimes contain 150 or more individuals,
particularly within the Santa Cruz River valley of southeastern Arizona
(Tucson Audubon Society 2004). During other years, the species can be
quite scarce or absent in Arizona, although at least a few individuals
were reported in the state every year for the past decade. They are
reported most years in the southeastern part of the state, less
frequently in central and western regions, and there are less than five
records north of the Mogollon Rim. Surprisingly, even with so few
records, Apache remains the only county above the Mogollon Rim without a
record of Lawrence’s Goldfinch.

In Arizona, the species normally occurs between
October and April, with individuals occasionally arriving as early as
late August and lingering into May. Wintering populations of Lawrence’s
Goldfinches begin migrating out of Arizona by mid- to late February,
with the majority of individuals dispersing by mid-March (Corman 2005).
Nonbreeding birds are occasionally seen during the summer months in
Arizona (Monson and Phillips 1981). One of the most recent of these
reports is of an individual at a livestock tank on Hualapai tribal land,
Coconino County, on 21 July 1999 (P. Friederici: unpublished Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas
data). During the summer of 2002, an unprecedented total of 12
individuals were also detected in eight scattered southeastern Arizona
localities from 23 June to 26 July (Rosenberg and Stevenson
2002).

Prior to 2005, there were only six reports of
Lawrence’s Goldfinches nesting in Arizona (table 1) with the first noted
in 1952 (Phillips et al.1964). Breeding activity was not reported for
this species during the statewide Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas project
conducted primarily between 1993-2000 (Corman 2005). However, evidence
suggests at least one pair nested after the Atlas project period; near Gisela, Gila County, in 2003.

After nearly a decade of drought or near-drought
conditions in Arizona, the winter and early spring of 2005 was notably
we

t and cool, with above normal amounts of precipitation. It was not
an exceptional year for wintering Lawrence’s Goldfinch, however.
Arizona saw only scattered individuals and flocks in southern regions of
the state. During the spring of 2005, breeding evidence was first noted
at the Hassayampa River Preserve, Maricopa County, when on 12 March,
Corman discovered two pairs of Lawrence’s Goldfinches, with one female
actively constructing a nest. The nest was placed in a clump of
mistletoe high in a cottonwood. A male would closely follow her to and
from the nest site singing exuberantly with each visit to the nest.
Pairs and/or individuals were noted at this location through mid-May,
but successful nesting was never determined.

Lawrence’s Goldfinches were also confirmed nesting
for the first time in Pinal County when C. Tomoff discovered a nest with
at least three young on 10 April at Boyce Thompson Arboretum. Tomoff
first noted a courting pair in this area on 3 March. This nest was built
in an Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica) and individuals were
noted in the area through early May. H. Detwiler periodically monitored
a pair of Lawrence’s Goldfinches at Betty’s Kitchen (near Laguna Dam),
Yuma County, throughout much of March and April. Detwiler photographed
the pair copulating on 29 April; this, combined with their lengthy stay,
suggests they at least attempted to nest at this location.

Photo by Henry Detwiler

Copulating pair of Lawrence’s Goldfinches at Betty’s Kitchen, Yuma County 29 April 2005

Arizona’s breeding records of Lawrence’s Goldfinches
have come primarily from lowland riparian woodlands dominated by
Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), Goodding willow (Salix gooddingii), tamarisk (Tamarix spp.), and mesquite (Prosopis
spp.). Thus, it is not surprising that the few nests discovered were
primarily in cottonwood and tamarisk. All sites were directly adjacent
to perennial water sources; an important feature of nesting and typical
wintering habitat for this species (Linsdale 1968, Davis 1999). In
Arizona, breeding evidence has been observed at elevations ranging from
approximately 46-880 m (150-2900 ft), although they have been reported
nesting from sea level to above 2700 m (9000 ft) in California (Small
1994).

It is not clearly understood what environmental
factors entice Lawrence’s Goldfinch to periodically nest in Arizona.
Their nesting occurrences do not appear tied to large population
influxes since many previous nesting records did not follow a
significant winter population incursion. However, our personal
observations and other evidence suggest a possible correlation between
cool, wet springs and subsequent lush growth of annuals in southern and
central Arizona, and the local nesting of Lawrence’s Goldfinches in the
state. Away from Arizona, this hypothesis is further corroborated by
sporadic nesting activity under similar environmental conditions in arid
regions of eastern California (Garrett and Dunn 1981, Yee et al. 1994,
McCaskie 1996) and northeastern Baja California, Mexico (Erickson and
Howell 2001).