Purple and/or House Finches Photo Gallery by Bill Ko at pbase.com

Purple and/or House Finches

The two look so much alike (especially the females) that it's tough to tell them apart. Please forgive me if I get a few wrong - and let me know about it!

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house finch oops 002.jpg

house finch 001.jpg

house finch oops 001.jpg

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Bill Ko		29-Apr-2006 03:11
Thanks, Mike! I agree with you 100%, and my way of identifying them is exactly the same way you do it! :)

Guest		29-Apr-2006 01:07
Bill, very nice photos. I am quite sure these are house finches: I have had trouble telling the two apart over the years. Finally think i have reached thepoint where I am reasonably comfortable. For me the clues are: 1) in the males, the house finch has brown streaking along the flanks, which is more or less absent in the male purple finch. Also, purple has more color on the back. 2) in the females: look at the facial pattern: in the house finch the side of the face is fairly uniformly light brown. In the female purple, there is very distinctive white markings above and below the eye. Hope this helps, Mike

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