What is the difference between a purple finch and a red Finch?
House finches are a classic red or red-orange like a ripe strawberry, while purple finches are more of a dark pink or rosy hue similar to a raspberry or red wine. Purple finches also have much more extensive red extending on the crown, nape, back, chest, cheeks, and flanks.
Adult females aren't red; they are plain grayish-brown with thick, blurry streaks and an indistinctly marked face. House Finches are gregarious birds that collect at feeders or perch high in nearby trees.
Purple Finch Scientific Name
Purpureus is a Latin term that roughly translates to the “color of purple.” This species was once part of the Old World finch genus, Carpodacus, but after careful genetic analysis, it was determined that the New World finch species deserved their own genus, Haemorhous.
Birds have an extremely developed sensitivity to color and are attracted to bright colors not commonly found in nature. Adding something like a colorful ribbon can help attract finches, as the movement in the wind can make them feel like another bird has already explored the new feeder and found it to be safe.
Male purple finches have an almost completely red face and neck with pinkish red also covering most of the body. Purple finches and house finches don't flock together, but they might both show up at your feeder at the same time.
A finch encounter may also act as a reminder to follow your joy wherever it may take you. Finches flutter through the sky proclaiming their joy through song. Encountering a finch may be a reminder to seek out the paths in your life that fill you with a sense of freedom, opportunity, and happiness.
This species is common in the North and East, and along the Pacific seaboard, but it is very rare in much of the Rocky Mountains region. Purple Finches feed up in trees and on the ground in open woods.
Banding studies show House Finches may live to be over 11 years old in the wild. House finches are early nesters, beginning in March in most of the country. Both male and female House Finch display a strong tendency to return to the same area to breed, often occupying the same nest site as the previous year.
Purple Finches are erratic migrants that follow cone crops. Typically they leave Canadian breeding grounds to winter widely across central and southeastern U.S, returning to specific regions roughly every other year. Birds that breed in northeastern U.S. and along the Pacific Coast may not migrate.
Description. The male Purple Finch is about 6 inches in length and has a raspberry or wine colored upperpart, breast and flanks. The birds colors are brightest in summer. The head of this bird is covered with red and little or no brown streaking on breast or flanks.
Are House Finches rare?
Conservation. House Finches are common throughout the U.S., parts of Canada, and Mexico, but their populations appear to have decreased slightly between 1966 and 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey.
When is the best time to see them feeding? Early in the morning between 7 am and 11 am - when the sun has fully risen - tends to be the best time where you'll find more birds are out feeding.
Nancy Castillo, co-owner of the Wild Birds Unlimited store in Saratoga Springs, New York, and author of the blog Zen Birdfeeder, points out that Nyjer contains natural high-calorie oils that attract finches. When the oils dry out, the seed loses both its food value and its flavor, and birds shun it.
Birds possess extreme sensitivity for colors, which means they are drawn to colors which nature does not commonly have. Thus adding bright-colored, such as yellow ribbons to the feeder helps immensely in attracting finches.
Purple Finches are social birds during winter. They are often found in flocks and sometimes with different species. However, during the breeding season, these birds become territorial and aggressive. Most of the time, both the male and female birds sing a song to defend their territories while sitting on the nest.
How many broods do purple finches have? Purple finches have between one and two broods each year. Each clutch contains an average of 3 to 6 eggs. Pairs may return to the nest in which their first brood of the year was raised to lay for a second time.
Unfortunately neither House or Purple Finches will use a nest box. However, you can make your yard attractive to them as a nesting site by ensuring a variety of native plants and shrubs are planted to provide shelter and nesting opportunities.
Male Purple Finches are delicate pink-red on the head and breast, mixing with brown on the back and cloudy white on the belly. Female Purple Finches have no red. They are coarsely streaked below, with strong facial markings including a whitish eyestripe and a dark line down the side of the throat.
Red Finch Scientific Name
The scientific name of this finch is Haemorhous mexicanus. Haem is the Greek word for blood (red) referring to the male's color. Mexicanus refers to Mexico. These finches live in the United States and Mexico. Another name for this bird is house finch.
The red of a male House Finch comes from pigments contained in its food during molt (birds can't make bright red or yellow colors directly). So the more pigment in the food, the redder the male. This is why people sometimes see orange or yellowish male House Finches.
Is a Purple Finch rare?
This species is common in the North and East, and along the Pacific seaboard, but it is very rare in much of the Rocky Mountains region. Purple Finches feed up in trees and on the ground in open woods.