Outdoor Ontario

Request for Information => Bird ID => Topic started by: Birdman on September 07, 2018, 05:39:37 PM

Title: Purple Finch or House Finch?
Post by: Birdman on September 07, 2018, 05:39:37 PM

Any chance either of these birds could be a purple finch?  It is a different bird in each photo.

Photo 1 is quite a deep red and not much streaking under its wings; beak seems fairly conical but hard to tell.  
Photo 2 doesn't have much colour on its back but its tail appears deeply notched.  
Neither appears to have a head crest, though.  

Thanks for your input!

Title: Re: Purple Finch or House Finch?
Post by: Shortsighted on September 08, 2018, 08:35:56 AM

Hard to say from that distance especially for someone shortsighted.
The lack of light superciliary arch and loss of colour on the belly and flanks
would suggest a House Finch, which is also a lot more common.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-DTHW84S/0/8d2e0e0d/M/i-DTHW84S-M.jpg) (https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-358cgw/i-DTHW84S/A)

Title: Re: Purple Finch or House Finch?
Post by: Ally on September 08, 2018, 09:19:01 AM

Quote from: "Shortsighted"

Hard to say from that distance especially for someone shortsighted.
The lack of light superciliary arch and loss of colour on the belly and flanks
would suggest a House Finch, which is also a lot more common.


(https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-DTHW84S/0/8d2e0e0d/M/i-DTHW84S-M.jpg) (https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-358cgw/i-DTHW84S/A)

Your photo is so romanticly beautiful!

Title: Re: Purple Finch or House Finch?
Post by: Birdman on September 12, 2018, 01:01:38 PM

Thanks for your feedback.  Looks like I still need to find myself a purple finch!

Title: Re: Purple Finch or House Finch?
Post by: Shortsighted on September 13, 2018, 08:49:19 AM

ey, ya might need to go undercover.

Title: Re: Purple Finch or House Finch?
Post by: Ally on September 13, 2018, 11:53:11 AM

I think house finches and song sparrows both have a temper. They bully house sparrows at my feeder. This one comes to feed today, and I think he is a house finch.

Title: Re: Purple Finch or House Finch?
Post by: Shortsighted on September 14, 2018, 08:29:20 AM

Yes, it is a House Finch and a very handsome one indeed.
Wonderful that you can get so close to it and it may even experience
some delight in the attention. In so much that attention results in
more feed. A mutually beneficial arrangement.