Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak and female Purple Finch

The female Purple Finch is frequently mistaken for the female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Far less colorful than the males, these females are very difficult to distinguish from each other. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak winters just south of the U.S. in Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Although it rarely comes to feeders in most of the U.S. and Canada in winter, sometimes individuals do show up. The Purple Finch, on the other hand, winters along the Pacific and throughout the Eastern U.S. and Southeastern Canada, making it a much more common feeder visitor.

Further complicating identification, two finches can be challenging to distinguish from the Purple Finch: the House Finch, whose female lacks the bold white eye stripe, and the Cassin’s Finch, which usually is only found in western mountains. Those three species are covered on a separate Tricky ID page.

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Field Marks

Purple Finch and Rose-breasted Grosbeak by Bob Vuxinic

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Field Mark	Purple Finch	Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Overall	The female Purple Finch is a relatively small, brown, streaky bird (4.5-6.5 in, 12-16 cm) with a gray bill and a white head-stripe.	The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a large, brown, streaky bird (7-8 in, 18-21 cm) with a large pinkish bill and a bold white eye stripe.
Purple Finch by Chris Wood, Rose-breasted Grosbeak by M.L. Milne ×
Head and bill	Conical, gray bill and white head-stripe that extends from nape to top of eye	Large, pinkish bill and bold, white stripe above eye that extends from back of head to bill
Purple Finch and Rose-breasted Grosbeak by Bob Vuxinic ×
Streaking	Thick streaks on chest, sides, flanks, and lower belly	Thin streaks on chest, sides, and flanks that fade to a mostly white lower belly
Purple Finch by Bob Vuxinic, Rose-breasted Grosbeak by M.L. Milne ×
Wingbars	Nondescript wingbars-like markings	Two white wingbars
Purple Finch by Chris Wood and Rose-breasted Grosbeak by Bob Vuxinic ×

Learn More

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds website contains detailed species accounts and cool facts, as well as photographs and paintings from a variety of sources. Learn more about the Purple Finch and the “>Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in the site’s online guide pages.

Sounds

Purple Finch

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak and female Purple Finch

Field Marks

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Sounds

Purple Finch

Song (Eastern)

Song (Eastern)

Song (Eastern)

Song (Eastern)

Calls (Eastern)

Calls (Eastern)

Flight calls (Eastern)

Song (Western)

Song (Western)

Song (Western)

Calls (Western)

Flight calls (Western)

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Song

Calls

Flight calls

Range

Purple Finch

Rose-breasted Grosbeak