Educate Yourself About the Purple Finch and Other Finches
Purple Finch
The Purple Finch has a stout bill, raspberry colored head, body and tail, head has more of a peak than the House Finch, stocky body, medium length wings, and a short, notched tail. Its length is 5-6in (13-15cm) It wingspan is 10in (25cm) Its voice is a song of fast, lively warble; the note is a dull metallic “tick”. Their eggs are pale greenish blue, scrawled in lines with brown and black, heaviest at large end, with 1 clutch consisting of usually 4-5 or (3-6) eggs. The female incubates for about 13 days, and fledging time is around 14 days. Both male and female feed their young. The female is grayish or brownish, with a bold white stripe over the eye, and dark brown breast streaks.
The Purple Finch is a bright energetic bird, and very sociable, and if you have one visiting bird, dozens will follow. The finch family is very large witch includes grosbeaks, sparrows, and other seed-eating kinds. Most people think of the beautiful colored finches, when they are brought up, but most of the finches that visit your lovely bird feeding garden, will be the more common streaky brown ones.
They breed throughout coniferous forests of Canada and New England, and all the way down the Pacific Coast. They used to be common in their eastern range, but now show a decline, maybe because of loss of habitat, and or the introduction of House Finches, and House Sparrows.
The dazzling courtship performance of the male finch is to be remembered when observed, with his puffed up breast and dangling wings. He hovers just a few inches above her, and sings softly, while vibrating the wings and cocking his tail. Sometimes he will even show off a little extra, by holding a few nesting twigs in his beak while singing his lively warble.
Many kinds of deciduous tree buds, and seeds are on the Purple Finch’s menu, such as seeds from the Red Maple, White Ash, elm, sycamore, and buds from the apple, birch, and maple trees. They will enjoy fruits from the junipers, and Winterberry Holly, and. their summer menu consists of different insects like green caterpillars, and beetles.
Both the male and female Purple Finch will build their nest, and in their eastern part of their range they will usually build the nest in a conifer. The western Purple Finches prefers to build them in deciduous trees, conifers, or shrubs, placing the nest about 6-40ft (2-12m) from the ground. The nest consists of twigs, grass, moss, and sometimes snake skin, and is lined with fine grass wool and horse hair, if available, to make it extra cozy for new arrivals.
If you like to attract the Purple Finch, and other finches to your lovely bird feeding garden, fill your hanging bird feeders, and bird tables with black-oil sunflower seeds witch they love, plus millet and niger seeds. Plant trees like juniper, spruce, dogwood, maple, sumac, Tuliptree, birch, Blackgum, and Sweetgum.
