Races:
Carduelis carduelis carduelis Linnaeus, 1758
Carduelis carduelis major Taszanowski, 1879

No Synonyms

Description

Common breeding migrant, but on most territory common winter visitor. Inhabits deciduous, mixed or coniferous forest with bushes and glades, forests in river valley, gardens, forest plantations in towns and villages. On migration and in winter visits kitchen gardens, fields (sunflower especially), riparian forest, open country without trees, forest-belts and thickets of tall weeds. Appears in March – early April, latest leave winter grounds in mid-April, last birds recorded in Aksu-Dzhabagly Reserve early May. Nest is built in tree from dry thin grass and rootlets mixed with vegetation fluff lined with fluff and hair. Only female constructs it. Clutches of 3-6, usually 4-5 eggs from mid-May, juveniles fledge in mid-June – first decade of July. Two broods probably reared per season. Dispersal begins in August, in Almaty appears from mid-September, in lower reach of Ural river, in Emba valley and at Chokpak Pass first birds registered from October.
Note. Hybrids with Grey Goldfinch (Carduelis caniceps) repeatedly caught in foothills of Zailiyskiy Alatau, in Almaty area.

Races

Eurasian Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis carduelis)

Carduelis carduelis carduelis Linnaeus, 1758 Back darker, clean rusty-brown, less greyish-brown, brown breast spots darker and more extensive than major. Sizes lesser. Occurs in Western Kazakhstan (Volga-Ural area, Ural valley) on migration and in winter. Which subspecies migrate through Naurzum Reserve is don't known.

Eurasian Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis major)

Carduelis carduelis major Taszanowski, 1879 Back lighter, more greyish-brown, brown breast spots lighter and less extensive than carduelis. Sizes larger. Breeding on Ishim valley not far from Petropavlovsk, in Kokchetav upland (Borovoye, Zerenda, Sandyktau and to north of Kokchetav), in Irtysh valley, in Pavlodarskoye Trans-Irtysh'e, in foothills of Altai (Ust-Kamenogorsk) and in Ridder. At once breeding recorded in Almaty, where a brood with adult birds observed 7 July 1953. On migration and in winter occurs to west up to area adjacent to Aral Sea from north and on south of the Republic.

References

Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005
Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999.