A male and female House finch are facing each otherwhile sitting on a vine.
While we have a few of Atticus Finch’s mockingbirds, we have a gazillion house finches. I expect I have more finches per square foot in my yard than anyone else in North America.
I have over a dozen that camp out at my front yard feeder and twice that many in the back. Fortunately, they are little fellows and don’t eat that much or I’d have to take out a second mortgage to buy bird seed.
Next to chickadees and hummingbirds, the finches are the smallest birds to visit. They are about the size of a sparrow or a gold finch.
Adult males are rosy red around the face and upper breast, with streaky brown back, belly and tail. In flight, the red rump is conspicuous. Adult females aren’t red. They are a plain grayish brown with thick, blurry streaks and an indistinctly marked face.
Finches are gregarious birds that collect at feeders or perch high in nearby trees. When they’re not at feeders, they feed on the ground, on weed stalks, or in trees. They move slowly and sit still as they shell seeds by crushing them with rapid bites. Their flight is bouncy.
Finches breed between March and August. A breeding pair may lay as many as 6 clutches of eggs in one summer, but they usually can only successfully raise up to 3 clutches. The female builds the nests, which are shallow, and cup shaped. They nest in a variety of trees and sometimes on front porches or wherever they can find a place to build a nest.
House finches aren’t particular about their environs. They live in city parks, backyards, urban centers, on farms and along forest edges.
One advantage of finches in my yard is that they keep my pet parakeet entertained. Their high-pitched tweets receive equal and shrill responses from Foster. I don’t know if they want to come in or have Foster to join them outside. So far, neither Foster nor the finches will tell.
