House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
Description: House Finches are small-bodied finches with fairly large beaks and long flat heads. Their wings are short however, and this makes the tail seem long. A majority of finches have distinct notched tails, but the House Finch has a relatively shallow notch in its tail. The adult males are rosy red around the face and upper breast with a streaky brown back, belly, and tail. In flight this red rump is hard to see. The adult females however aren’t red; they are a plain grayish-brown with thick, blurry streaks and a non-marked face.
Habitat: They are frequently found in city parks, backyards, urban centers, farms, and forest edges across the continent. In the western United States you can find House finches in their native habitats of grassland, open woods, and deserts.
Diet: House Finches will primarily eat seeds and fruits, but will also consume wild mustard seeds, knotweed, thistle, mulberry, poison oak, cactus, and many other species.
Behaviors:
Miscellaneous:
Habitat: They are frequently found in city parks, backyards, urban centers, farms, and forest edges across the continent. In the western United States you can find House finches in their native habitats of grassland, open woods, and deserts.
Diet: House Finches will primarily eat seeds and fruits, but will also consume wild mustard seeds, knotweed, thistle, mulberry, poison oak, cactus, and many other species.
Behaviors:
- They collect at feeders or perch high in nearby trees
- House Finches are very unpredictable
- House Finches move fairly slowly and sit still as they shell seeds by crushing them with rapid bites.
- The flight of a House Finch is very bouncy just as many finches are accustomed to.
Miscellaneous:
- The total House Finch population across North America is staggering. Scientists estimate between 267 million and 1.4 billion individuals.