Purple Finch! - 16 Jan 2016

Yesterday afternoon, just before dark I checked the feeders and found little activity. Two houses down at the Morton's, however, a streaked sparrow caught my eye. I put the scope on their feeders and found a female Purple Finch among several House Finches! One had been reported last week from birders waiting for the Golden-crowned and Harris' Sparrows, but I was at work.

This morning I sat in the back window of Brownton Abbey and watched the dozen or so juncos foraging below the feeder when the female Purple Finch flew in. I managed to get a few pics of it through the window, but she refused to pose in the open long enough for a real nice portrait.

Note the thicker, heavier streaking on the chest and flanks, and the almost-all brown cheeks with bright white eye-stripe. This makes the Purple Finch contrastingly bolder in appearance relative to the female House Finch that has more of a sooty appearance and plain brown cheeks w/o eye-stripe.

female House Finch

Just before 11 am the Harris' Sparrow made a several minute appearance below the feeders.

Brownton Abbey, 26340 Higgins Way, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 16, 2016 9:20 AM - 12:20 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     See blog post for additional details of day's sighting: http://jerrycabinet.blogspot.com/2016/01/purple-finch-16-jan-2016.html
2 species

Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)  1     first observed day before at neighbor's feeder; showed up this morning; note heavy white eye streak and blotchy chest;
Harris's Sparrow (Zonotrichia querula)  1     Continuing bird. Observed at 11 am.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S28144946

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)