The Purple Finch
Distinguishing the Purple Finch from its cousins, the House Finch and the Cassin's Finch, can be tricky. All three are about the same size and shape, and all three are frequent visitors to the birdfeeder. To make matters worse, their territories overlap. The color is the key. The Purple Finch has more color than the other two, and the House Finch's coloring is more red than purple.
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.
Purple Finch
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Purple Finch
Why are they called...
Purple Finch (Tilden...
Purple Finch (Tilden...
Purple Finch
Purple Finch
Purple Finch
Purple Finch
Purple Finch
Did You Know?
The Purple Finch can be aggressive when defending its territory but rarely wins out against the House Finch.
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
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. Did You Know?
When feeding on fruits, the Purple Finch will ignore the pulp and go for the seeds.
Popular Birdfeeders
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. Recognizing the Songs of the Songbirds
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. Great Gift Ideas
South Carolina Birder
South Carolina Birder offers information on wild birds as well as an insight into birding in South Carolina.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byPurple Finch
Canvas Print, Purple Finch - 12 x 18
Amazon Price: $39.95 (as of 10/12/2008)
Bring the beauty inside with this beautiful print.
Lizzy's Lenses
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Busy Lizzy's Backyard Birds
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As we go through life, some sights and events have a profound impact on our lives, while others flitter past unnoticed. Some passions can be traced back to that single pivotal point while others grow seemingly unnoticed for years. I am a morning pers...
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Busy Lizzy's Aquatic Birds
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Aquatic birds live on or near bodies of water. They acquire their food from the water, the shorelines, or animals within the same region. They include seabirds, such as gulls, pelicans, albatrosses, and ducks, swans and geese.
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Busy Lizzy's Birds of Prey
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Birds of Prey or Raptors are birds that usually hunt on the wing. They use their keen sense of sight to spot prey, swoop down, and capture it. They usually have large, powerful beaks and talons for tearing and piercing the flesh of their prey.
What interesting birds have you seen?
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OhMe
Really enjoyed this lens. We've been on the lookout for the purple finch but haven't seen many this year. 5* Posted August 05, 2008 |
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ANDRI
goog finch lens. I favorite it and give five ratings. You has explain me Posted July 20, 2008 |
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GiftStumped
Very nice lens. Great job mixing in images and content! I need to figure out how to make my lens look this good. Posted March 31, 2008 |
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bbug
I have numerous purple finches in my backyard. I didn't know what to feed them thanks for the information. Great lens Posted March 30, 2008 |
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
