House Finch

A House Finch is more heavily striped than the purple finch. The male is 6-inches long, has a brownish cap but otherwise is orange red on the head, bib, and rump. Females and immature birds are heavily streaked with brown and have loss of a facial pattern than their purple finch counterparts. The tails of both sexes are brown and squared. This backyard dweller likes seeds of trees, shrubs, and crops. It is also fond of cultivated fruits and has been known to cause damage in orchards. The female house finch carefully builds a cup of twigs 5 to 7 feet above the ground in a natural cavity, mailbox, building, birdhouse, or vine. The 4 or 5 sparsely dotted, pale bluish green eggs are incubated by the female for 13 days while she is fed by the male, who regurgitates food to her. Young leave the nest in 2 to 3 weeks. House Finches are frequent patrons of feeders that offer sunflower and thistle seeds or birdseed mix. They consume a variety of seeds and berries from garden plants, also unopened buds of fruit trees.

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