The Purple Finch
Description
The female Purple Finch are a light olive-brown, streaked with a dark brown. Their chest is streaked with dark olive-brown fading to white on the belly.
The Purple Finch can be aggressive when defending its territory but rarely wins out against the House Finch.
Purple Finch
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Purple Finch
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Purple Finch
Purple Fincheroo
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Range and Habitat
The Purple Finch's breeding habitat is the coniferous and mixed forests of Canada and the northeastern United States. The birds that breed in the northern part of their range migrate south in the winter, but the birds residing in the southern area of their range are year round residents.They prefer the enterior of the coniferous forests but also inhabit orchards, pastures, and backyards scattered with conifers, shrubs, and hedgerows.
Nesting Habits
The Purple Finch return to their breeding habitat in late March to early April. They build their nest on a horizontal branch or in the fork of a tree. The nest is composed of twigs and grass stems. It has a rough exterior but it lined with grasses, lichen, and whatever other soft material is available. As long as the nest remains intact, the Purple Finch will use it for several generations.Eggs are rarely laid before May and the clutch consists of 4 to 6 blue sparsly spotted eggs. After the clutch is raised, the Purple Finch can be seen in huge flocks visiting orchards, parks, and other wooded areas.
Purple Finch
Eating Habits
The Purple Finch will forage in trees and bushes looking for seeds, berries and insects. They are frequent visitors to bird feeders prefering sunflower seeds, millet, and thistle. When feeding on fruits, the Purple Finch will ignore the pulp and go for the seeds.
The Avant Garden Cottage Lantern Feeder
Avant Garden 8501-3 Cottage Lantern Bird Feeder
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I love watching the birds in my backyard, and nothing attracts the birds better than a birdfeeder. The Avant Garden Cottage Lantern Feeder is an excellent choice.
Voice
The Purple Finch will sing a series of warbles, including imitations of songs of other birds. Its call note is a short tek, tek, tek. Common Birds and Thier Songs
Common Birds and Their Songs (Book and Audio CD)
Amazon Price: $14.96 (as of 07/11/2009)
This book-audio package provides a unique introduction to fifty of the most familiar birds of North America and the songs they sing. The audio CD features original high-quality field recordings of each bird's songs and calls, which are track-coded for easy access. Common Birds and Their Songs will be valuable to anyone interested in birds, from beginner to expert. It's the perfect gift for any birder - or anyone with a bird feeder.
Conservation Status
The numbers of Purple Finch are declining in some areas as they compete with an increasing number of House Sparrows and House Finches for suitable breeding habitat and foraging ground. Attracting Birds to Your Backyard
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Attracting Birds to Your Yard
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Create a Backyard Bird Sanctuary
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Selecting a Birdbath
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Bird watching is one of the fastest growing outdoor activities in the world. It provides a relaxing and educational diversion from the stresses of life and work. While some people enjoy birding excursions and trekking through the wilds in search of a...
America's 100 Most Wanted Birds
America's 100 Most Wanted Birds
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If you want to see a gyrfalcon or a fork-tailed flycatcher, this resource might be your best help in spotting them. Mostly for serious birders intent on adding species to their life lists, America's 100 Most Wanted Birds provides detailed strategies for locating 100 of the most uncommon-to-rare bird species in the United States.
Some of my Favorite Backyard Birds
The Bold and BeautifulThe American Goldfinch
The Blue Jay
The Northern Cardinal
Cheerful Singers
The European Starling
The Northern Mockingbird
The American Robin
The Shy Ones
The Eastern Bluebird
The Carolina Wren
What interesting birds have you seen?
marsha32 wrote...
I don't think I've ever seen a purple finch. I'm wanting to get several bird feeders for the back yard and will have to refer to your lenses once we start watching what birds come to eat.
Posted March 08, 2009
mukunda22 wrote...
I love these little birds-I love to watch them at my feeder.
Thank you!!
Posted January 16, 2009
naturegirl7 wrote...
We see these in winter, but we have the House Finches year round. Welcome to the Naturally Native Squids group. Don't forget to add your lens links to the appropriate plexos and vote for them.
Posted October 25, 2008
About the Author
Lensmaster ElizabethJeanAllen, aka Lizzy Jean, has been a member since March 16 2008, has rated 3,689 lenses, favorited 454, and has created 169 lenses from scratch. Lizzy Jean donates their royalties to Squidoo Charity Fund. This member's top-ranked page is "The Mallard Duck". See all my lenses
Why Birds Do That
Why Birds Do That: 40 Distinctive Bird Behaviors Explained & Photographed
Amazon Price: $12.44 (as of 07/11/2009)
Birds are fascinating. Their behavior is complex, often comical. Some sing while others do not. Why Birds Do That explains forty distinctive bird behaviors and is enhanced with numerous photographs. It is a must have book for both the backyard bird watcher as well as the avid birder.
Resources used to build this page.
Peterson, T.P. & Peterson, V.M. 2002. Birds of Eastern and Central North America, Fifth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, N.Y.
Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology
Seattle Audubon Society
by ElizabethJeanAllen
I tell my students to Learn from the Past, Live in the Present, and Plan for the Future. With Squidoo I can do all three.
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