Male and female House Finches on a cactus in our backyard. The male is the colorful one.
Bird of the Week: CLXXIII House Finch — Haemorhous mexicanus
SIZE:
Sexes similar. 5-6 in (13-15 cm); wingspan: 8-10 in (20-25 cm); weight: 0.6-1 oz (17-28 g).
House Finches are a very common backyard bird. They are part of my daily birdwatching. All photos were taken in my backyard.
COLORING:
The males are brightly colored with a red eyebrow and forehead. Their throat and chest are red, lower underparts whitish, with dark stripes on their sides. I remember the first time I saw a House Finch, I was amazed by the bright red color. I was living in Palm Springs, California and saw one during my daily walk to the park. I thought it was some exotic bird, but found out it was a common House Finch.
A male House Finch on our cactus statue made of horse shoes. This is a good example of male coloring.
The females and young House Finches have plain brown faces, blurry stripes all over pale underparts. They’re very easy to overlook in our backyard compared to the males.
A female House Finch on a cactus. Notice the dull coloring compared to her mate.
RANGE AND HABITAT:
Originating in the Southwest United States, the House Finches are now common from coast to coast. I read that in the 1940s, New York pet shops released finches from their cages because it became illegal to sell them. They wanted to avoid prosecution. All these years later, the birds from those pet shops have grown in numbers and thrived.
House Finches can be found on farms, urban areas like city parks, backyards, as well as forest edges across the continent. In the western U.S., you’ll find House Finches in their native habitats of deserts, grassland, chaparral, and open woods.
FOOD:
House Finches are primarily herbivores. They eat seeds, grains, fruits and berries and a smaller part of their diet are insects like aphids. House Finches are regulars at bird feeders and especially like sunflower sees.
NESTING:
House Finches use a variety of sites, such as conifers, palms, cactus, holes in manmade structures, and may search around homes on ledges, window boxes or other safe areas preferring nests about 12-15 ft above the ground. Sometimes they use hanging planters and old nests of other birds. Nests are built mostly by the female. Nests are shaped like an open cup made from grass, weeds, twigs, and other plant material and sometimes with feathers or other debris.
House finches are monogamous through breeding season and the following winter. They may stay together for several years, but also may instead find new mates.
CALLS:
House Finches have an extensive warble and song similar to House Sparrows.
Calls from All About Birds:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch/sounds
A brightly colored male on the cactus statue.
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I’m glad you enjoyed my House Finches.
I’m listening to a few right now who have made a nest under one of our roof tiles just above my window 🙂 Such a common bird here. They are very defensive of their nesting sites. We watched a pair drive off a scrub jay the other day when he got to close to the nest in the neighbors pine tree.
How fun that you have a nest near your window. They are very common and also they are fun and lively to have around.
What unusual colouring on the male. Quite splotchy like the Plum-headed Finch. They would be lovely to have around.
I thought your Plum-headed Finch was so beautiful. I’d like to have those.
Thank you Elizabeth for this beautiful post about house finches. The male are very colorful and pretty.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’m running out of birds though for my weekly post.
They are so cute, lovely photos Elizabeth!! I see these little birds in my backyard but not well enough to identify them. Two or more of them will perch on the rim of the birdbath and stay there for several minutes. The Cornell bird app identifies them.
I have that app too. It’s so helpful, isn’t it? Our House Finches like to perch on the bird bath and the cactus statue. Also the House Sparrows especially like the bird bath.
Beautiful photos of the finches. Nice post. I too like to do deep dives into birds which are common around me.
Thank you so much. I am running out of birds that I’ve photographed in my backyard. I will be continuing with my common ones and hope a new bird to me stops by.
Beautiful photos, Elizabeth! I have a large family of house finches living in a bougainvillea outside my window and they sing and chirp all day and it’s such a delight!
I think this is the first bird we have in common. They’re so sweet..
Yay! The map shows they are coast to coast. 😊
Well, we do have cardinals too.
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I think Cardinals are the best!
Love this, Elizabeth! When my office was in another room upstairs, I had a house finch who nested on the window ledge, and she was the most delightful little companion. Catching glimpses of her made me pause and slow down which was a really good thing. Thanks for the terrific pics and conjuring the sweet memory!
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I’m so glad my post brought back your House Finch memories. They are such delightful little birds.
Yes, yes!!! ❤️😉❤️
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You caught them all at great angles giving them character!
Thanks!
What sweet little survivors those precious finches are!
They are sweet with great personalities.
Oh my! They are super cute! Lovely shots.
Thanks!
I enjoy their songs. There was a dip in population around here a few years back. Before that they seemed to be suffering an eye infection going around. I still don’t see quite the numbers we used to have 15 or 20 years ago. The males are sometimes orange or even yellow instead of red.
I did read something about eye infections and House Finches. I’ve only seen red males. I’ll keep my eyes out for other colors.
They are the cutest, and I love their songs. We have a lot of them at our Georgia place, and I love watching them do their thing.
They are cute! They are always in our backyard. I haven’t discovered nests, but they must be here. That’s nice you have them in Georgia.