Common and familiar at feeders, on thistles, sunflowers, in hedgerows, on farmland, and in weedy fields. In late fall many n. populations move s., traveling in the daytime in flocks. Feeds quietly, often hidden, before suddenly moving nearby, always twittering as they go. Small with broad wings and forked tail and with an exaggerated bouncy flight. Song: a long fast ramble of jumbled sweet twitters. Call a ‘choo leee.’ Flight call a ‘te de de.’ ID: A small neat-looking bird. Plump with a short forked tail and triangular bill. Wing bars. Ad ♂ br: familiar black and yellow. Wing feathers fade quickly and wing bars become worn. Molts in fall to a very different looking plumage. Nonbr ♂: broad wing bars, brown back, pale yellow on head and underparts. Ad ♀ br: pale yellow below and variably brown or green above with an orange bill. Nonbr ♀: similar to nonbr ♂ but lacks yellow head.