House Finch

Here's a House Finch that seems to be trying to determine the most delicious, savory sunflower seed to eat. Especially at a well-stocked bird feeder, it's okay to be choosy.

I've shown House Finches before, but they are neat looking little guys. One thing that might surprise people is that even though they are native to North America, they're not really native to the east. They were a West Coast bird that some people started keeping illegally as pets, and probably some of them were released here, perhaps when the law was closing in on their owners. From there, they relatively rapidly spread throughout the eastern/central US, and are now one of the continent's most abundant wild birds. Presumably because they are native to part of North America, they don't have the notoriety of invasive species like the European Starling or House Sparrow.

July 18, 2021 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary
Photo 148188091, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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