Purple Finch

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Purple Finch
The name Purple Finch tends to be misleading. The bird is no more purple than it is yellow or blue. Pinkish-rose or raspberry, especially on head and rump, might best describe the adult male. Females and immature males are brownish and white, heavily streaked on the breast with a prominent whitish line over the eye.

These sparrow-sized visitors from Canada arrive in October and linger into May and is perhaps our best known of "winter finches". The Purple Finch breeds across southern and central Canada and in the United States, in New England, in the Great Lakes region, and along the pacific coast down into California. The Purple Finch Winters throughout the eastern United States and in the states on the western seaboard. The preferred habitat is mixed and coniferous woodlands.
Purple Finch Range Map

Anyone who maintains a winter bird feeder well stocked with sunflower seeds will sooner or later be visited by the purple finch. The majority of the individuals will be the females and immature males while only about ten percent will be displaying the attractive rosy garb of the adult male.

Like most other winter finches, these birds are relatively tame and sometimes almost totally disregard the presence of people. I remember numerous occasions when in the field they allowed me to approach within several feet as they were feeding. Many of those who dine at my window feeder allow me to almost press my nose against the glass before retreating.

During courtship the male sings and "hops" as high as 6 to 12 inches with chest puffed out, tail cocked, and wings dangling and vibrating while holding nesting material in it beak. The clutch consists of 4-5 blue-green eggs, spotted with dark brown especially at the larger end. The nest is a well made cup of grass and twigs lined with hair and placed on the horizontal branches of conifers. The eggs are incubated for about 13 days, by the female and the young leave the nest about 14 days later.

The diet is varied and consists mainly of seeds, but also includes buds, blossoms, and insects in spring and fruits during the summer.

Declines in northeastern Purple Finch populations, especially in suburban areas, may be correlated to competition with expanding introduced populations of the closely related House Finch. Similar declines in suburban Purple Finch populations in the first decade of this century were attributed to expansion of the House Sparrow, another introduced species.

Attracting Finches

Visit Shaw Creek Bird Supply to see our selection of Purple Finch Feeders.