House Finch (female)

Description:

The females are brownish gray and heavily streaked on the breast. Their gray bills are somewhat short and very stout.

Habitat:

Spotted in a tree in Redmond, Wa. Here in Washington House finches are often associated with humane occupation - especially where their are bird feeders.

Notes:

They first arrived in western Washington in the 1950s, and are now common throughout the state, with significant yearly increases recorded by the Breeding Bird Survey since 1966. In human-altered settings, this finch outcompetes its close relatives, the Cassin's Finch and the Purple Finch. Its presence has been considered to be a major cause of the Purple Finch's decline in western Washington.