House Finch

Description:

Male House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) at feeder in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Habitat:

The House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae, which is found in North America. This species and the other "American rosefinches" are usually placed in the rosefinch genus Carpodacus. It has been proposed to place them in a distinct genus Burrica, but the American Ornithologists Union rejected a proposal to do so in 2008. Adults have a long, square-tipped brown tail and are a brown or dull-brown color across the back with some shading into deep gray on the wing feathers. Breast and belly feathers may be streaked; the flanks usually are. In most cases, adult males' heads, necks and shoulders are reddish. This color sometimes extends to the belly and down the back, between the wings. Male coloration varies in intensity with the seasons and is derived from the berries and fruits in its diet. As a result, the colors range from pale straw-yellow through bright orange (both rare) to deep, intense red. Adult females have brown upperparts and streaked underparts. Their song is a rapid, cheery warble or a variety of chirps.[citation needed] These birds are mainly permanent residents throughout their range; some northern and eastern birds migrate south. Their breeding habitat is urban and suburban areas in eastern North America as well as various semi-open areas in the west from southern Canada to northern Florida and the Mexican state of Oaxaca; the population in central Chiapas may be descended from escaped cagebirds. (credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Finch...)