House Finch Color Variation

I think this is a house finch variant, although when I snapped the pic, I thought it was a grosbeak.

House Finch Cozy with the Cat Feeder

It did take the birds a while to use this feeder....

House Finch Teen

This young 'un spent a lot of time at the platform feeder last night.

House Finch: Orange Variant

House finch males are usually red...but sometimes, they're orange and can even be yellow. It's all connected to diet.

House Finch

This super-red house finch caught my eye yesterday at the bird feeder.

Male House Finch

A male house finch braving the rain yesterday to snack on black-eyed Susan seed heads.

Bird Gathering Spot

The platform feeder was a popular spot yesterday. On the left is an Oregon junco, on the right is a house sparrow, and look at the red rump on that bird on the fence. That's a male house finch.

Female House Finch

A female house finch at a feeder. I hadn't filled my feeders for weeks because I considered it too hazardous for birds with a foster cat living in my yard. But the kitty has been moved to the garage for the winter with minimal outdoor time, so I filled the feeders up. I thought it might take a while for the birds to come back. It took literally only minutes.

House Finch Makes an Appearance

Normally, this is house finch season around my yard. But this type of finch has been scarce this year - while goldfinches, pine siskins, house sparrows, red-wing blackbirds, yellow-headed blackbirds and Brewer's blackbirds have ruled the yard. This one's beak looks strange. I think it's just a piece of seed shell.

Crowded Bird Feeder

Mostly house finches yesterday afternoon, with one house sparrow dipping into the seed in this photo.

Sweet Oregon Junco Gal

A female Oregon Junco picking through the frosty grass for breakfast. The Juncos, house finches, pine siskins and house sparrows are winter buddies in my yard.