House finch

Description:

An adult male house finch with a reddish head, shoulders and breast. The red also extends down the back between the wings (pic1). The chest and flanks are heavily streaked (pic2 and 3). The males red varies throughout the seasons and is derived from their diet. Their are also yellow variants.

Habitat:

Spotted in a tree in a protected area, although not far from houses. Native to western North America though they can now be found over much of North America due to being introduced to eastern North America in the 1940s.

Notes:

House finches forage on the ground or in vegetation normally. They primarily eat grains, seeds and berries, being voracious consumers of weed seeds such as nettle and dandelion; included are incidental small insects such as aphids. They are frequent visitors to bird feeders throughout the year, particularly if stocked with sunflower or nyjer seed, and will congregate at hanging nyjer sock feeders. The house finch is known to damage orchard fruit and consume commercially grown grain but is generally not considered a significant pest but rather an annoyance.