annmh@blake.acs.washington.edu (Ann Harrington) (02/24/90)
Dear fellow birdwatchers, My birdfeeder attracts a lot of finches of the Purple/Cassin's/House variety. What I'd like to know is, does anyone have any clues as to how to tell these three varieties apart? Some of these finches are definitely House Finches, some are pretty obviously Purple (sometimes they appear together, sometimes in separate bunches), but there are an awful lot that seem to have characteristics of all three types. Since all three are listed as "common" in this area, range is no help....any suggestions? BTW: Things I've already looked at: beak size, presence of head cap & color of same, color/vividness of chest bib, underside barring, etc. Help! This is driving me nuts! Thanks. -Ann annmh@blake.acs.washington.edu
john@nmtsun.nmt.edu (John Shipman) (02/24/90)
Ann Harrington (annmh@blake.acs.washington.edu) writes: +-- | My birdfeeder attracts a lot of finches of the Purple/Cassin's/House | variety. What I'd like to know is, does anyone have any clues as | to how to tell these three varieties apart?... +-- Discriminating among these three forms is tough, because all are highly variable. My neighbor Phil and I have had all three forms in our backyards, although the Purple was a notable rarity. Disclaimer: I'm not an expert, and in general it's a bad idea to try to identify birds on the basis of one or two characters. These are just the marks that have worked for me. The first thing to look for is the presence or absence of a strong facial pattern. The Cassin's and Purple have a clearly marked dark ear patch, with a clear light line above and below it. The House Finch does not have a strong, sharply delineated facial pattern. Distinguishing Purple from Cassin's is much harder. The bill of the Cassin's is a trace longer and straighter, while that of the Purple is not quite as long, and the top and bottom edges are slightly curved in profile. This distinction is tough unless you have both forms occurring together and can get long, close looks at them. Don't expect always to be able to ID every finch you see, but with time and direct comparisons you should be able to call most of them. -- John Shipman/Zoological Data Processing/Socorro, New Mexico USENET: ucbvax!unmvax!nmtsun!john CSNET: john@jupiter.nmt.edu ``Let's go outside and commiserate with nature.'' --Dave Farber
grp@unify.uucp (Greg Pasquariello) (03/01/90)
In article <5896@blake.acs.washington.edu> annmh@blake.acs.washington.edu (Ann Harrington) writes: > >Dear fellow birdwatchers, > >My birdfeeder attracts a lot of finches of the Purple/Cassin's/House >variety. What I'd like to know is, does anyone have any clues as >to how to tell these three varieties apart? > >Some of these finches are definitely House Finches, some are pretty >obviously Purple (sometimes they appear together, sometimes in >separate bunches), but there are an awful lot that seem to have >characteristics of all three types. Since all three are listed as >"common" in this area, range is no help....any suggestions? > >BTW: Things I've already looked at: beak size, presence of head cap & >color of same, color/vividness of chest bib, underside barring, etc. >Help! This is driving me nuts! > It always seems to me that house finches look "raggedy" while purple finches are always in fine shape and good color. I know, I know... very subjective. However, I think the reason that they look this way is 1. House finches have much more brown in their plumage, and 2. Purple finches are fatter birds. An interesting side-effect of this, is that a lot of beginning birders mistake house finches for redpolls rather than purples. While I have yet to see my first Cassin's finch (maybe this weekend!!) I have read that they should have striping on the undertail coverts (is that what you mean by underside barring?). I have never EVER seen a purple finch with this, and I have looked for it. Now, let's talk about the females... -Greg >Thanks. >-Ann >annmh@blake.acs.washington.edu -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greg Pasquariello (916) 920-9092 grp@unify.UUCP Unify Corporation ...!{csusac, pyramid}!unify!grp