Species Specifics: House Finch or Purple Finch

Most of you know that the rosy-colored finch that resides in our area is the house finch; the purple finch is a rare winter visitor to the tri-state. But did you know that the house finch isn’t a native of the eastern U.S.?

The house finch is a native of the west coast. In the 1940s house finches were captured and sold as cage birds called “Hollywood finches”; this practice was, of course, illegal and, to avoid prosecution, pet store owners in the east released many house finches. Surprisingly, the house finches survived and in less than 50 years the eastern population exploded into the millions. The house finch is now the most widespread and numerous backyard feeder bird in the country!

House finches tend to monopolize birdfeeders; their favorite seed is sunflower. They often take over finch feeders and are so aggressive they’ll scare off the goldfinches! If you have hordes of house finches devouring your nyjer seed you can switch to an “upside down” finch tube. Goldfinches are very comfortable hanging upside to feed (watch them feeding on a coneflower!) but house finches are not. House finches also forage in the trees and on the ground eating weed seeds, blossoms, buds and fruit.

House finches build a nest of twigs, grasses and leaves in natural cavities or in vines, planters, and sometimes in birdhouses; several customers have even found them nesting in their front door wreath! They lay 2-6 bluish white speckled eggs which hatch after about 15 days incubation. The babies stay in the nest another 2 weeks before fledging. House finches can have up to 3 broods each nesting season.

The male house finch’s orangey-red color is predominantly on its head and chest; the purple finch is raspberry-red all over with no brown streaking. House finches, males and females, have brown streaks on their sides and bellies. The female house finch has an evenly brown-streaked face; the female purple finch has broad white lines above and below her eye.

Now that you know the difference between them, this winter, if we’re lucky enough to be visited by purple finches, you’ll be able to distinguish them from our resident house finches.