Description

According to any bird distribution map I’ve looked at, house finches shouldn’t be in our area, at least at this time of year. However, I’ve seen two of these birds repeatedly over the last few days. I did get a better look at the birds when they were on the deck outside the kitchen window, but I was so focused on watching them through binoculars to see the details, that I didn’t think to try for another photo. However, their colouration looks exactly like the photos / poster of female house finches that I checked:
– uniformly light brown head (no striping or bands of colour on the face or head)
– slightly chunky beak, light grey/charcoal in colour (similar shape to a grossbeak)
– light brown back (again, uniform colouration) with stripes on wings as visible in the photo
– breast is white with broken brown striping
I’m very new to birding, and so sent the photo to a friend who is experienced. She said she also thought it looked like a house finch, but sent it on to a more experienced birder that she knows in the area.
If these aren’t house finches, I’d love to know what they are.

Category

Finches

Species

• House Finch

Tags

• ID confirmation