House Finch

One of our most common birds all year round. May be abundant in forest edge habitats and brushy areas. Common in suburbs as well. Often in small flocks of five to about 20 birds or more, but may be solitary or in pairs. Regular feeder visitor. Males are readily identified by the red breast, head, and heavy forehead, but also note the brownish cap. Rump usually washed with red as well, but back is a streaky brown. Folded wings mostly brown. Streaked on sides and belly. Females are streaked brown all over.

Note that House Finch and a number of other finches were moved to the genus Haemorhous in late 2012. Older sources will list this bird as Carpodacus mexicanus.

Males are likely to be confused only with Purple Finch, but that bird is much less common here (I see Purple Finch only occasionally in Sonoma County, House Finch virtually every day). Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) is washed with a raspberry color distributed over the back as well as the head, upper breast, scapulars and coverts, and the bird is less streaky on the sides and belly than House Finch, being mostly white or pale below with irregular patches of the raspberry color. House Finch tends to be a more reddish or orange in color than the raspberry Purple Finch--although color is variable in both birds and color alone is not a reliable indicator. In Purple Finch, look for a darker, brownish ear patch and a touch of dark brown where a malar stripe is often found in sparrows. The head is all you really need to see. Focus on its shape. Male House Finch has the heavy-browed look we associate with caricatures of cavemen and will almost always have brown on the top of the head; Purple Finch has a more elegant brow, without the bulge, and will be raspberry-colored also on the top of the head--with no brown. House Finch has a proportionately more massive bill. Purple Finch has a more distinct facial pattern, the most conspicuous feature of which is the brownish auricular patch and brown malar marking (photo below). When in doubt, viewing birds fleetingly or at a distance, it's probably (but not necessarily) a House Finch in Sonoma County. Females may be confused with female Purple Finch, but a female Purple Finch will have the much more distinct facial pattern of its male counterpart, with the dark patch at the "ear" and the malar stripe. Also note that female House Finches tend to be streaked throughout their underparts, female Purple Finches tend to be white or nearly white at the vent.

Male House Finches show much color variation. Typical is a medium pinkish-red, but some birds are on the purple side (closer to Purple Finch), a few are distinctly orange (see photo below). Some birds have much more extensive areas of color than others. The bird in the top photo here is fairly typical. Some birds in Sonoma County are paler, and some may have very little color at all. House Finch populations in southern California are generally less brightly colored than our birds and tend to be more orange.

At a distance, Pine Siskin may be confused with female House Finch. The bill is the best diagnostic. Pine Siskin has a markedly slender, more pointed bill. The House Finch has a typical, broad, seed-cracking finch bill. Also, Pine Siskin has a head that gives the impression of being too small for the body, unlike the House Finch, and the streaking on Pine Siskin is much clearer (contrasting more sharply with its background) and finer than on House Finch. Streaking on Pine Siskin includes the head and back as well. House Finch females will be streaked only on the breast, belly, and sides.