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Small, somewhat stocky finch. Like other finches, it has a notched tail. Adult males have a raspberry red head, breast, and back. Females/immatures are brown overall with crisp brown streaking on the breast and flanks. Also note white eyebrow. Purple Finches are erratic migrants that follow cone crops.
Females and young males of both species are simply brown and white, and can be especially tricky. Female Purple Finch es have a well-defined white mark above each eye and are more crisply patterned. As always, structure and behavior are also useful.
The female Purple Finch is a relatively small, brown, streaky bird (4.5-6.5 in, 12-16 cm) with a gray bill and a white head-stripe. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a large, brown, streaky bird (7-8 in, 18-21 cm) with a large pinkish bill and a bold white eye stripe.
The Purple Finch is the bird that Roger Tory Peterson famously described as a “sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.” For many of us, they’re irregular winter visitors to our feeders, although these chunky, big-beaked finches do breed in northern North America and the West Coast.
The female Purple Finch has streaky brown-and-white plumage and a strong facial pattern, with none of the bright raspberry color of the male. This marked difference between the sexes' appearances, known as sexual dimorphism, is seen in many other bird species including the Black-throated Blue Warbler and the Juan Fernández Firecrown , a rare ...
In courtship, male hops near female with his wings drooping, tail raised, chest puffed out, then vibrates wings until he rises a short distance in the air. May hold bits of nest material in bill and give soft song during this performance.
The female Purple Finch usually builds her nest on horizontal branches of coniferous trees, away from the trunk, but occasionally in tree forks. The nest is shaped like an open cup, made up of rootlets, twigs, and weeds, and lined with grass, hair, and moss.
Female/immature (Eastern) Females are coarsely streaked below, with strong facial markings including a whitish eyebrow and a dark line down the side of the throat. © terence zahner / Macaulay Library New York, December 09, 2018
Compared to House Finch, males lack distinct streaks on sides and are overall more colorful, especially on back and wings. Females and first-year males have contrasty head pattern with pale eyebrow and darker cheek; also note well-defined streaks on sides. Breed in coniferous or mixed forests.
Female Purple Finches are heavily marked with short, blurry streaks on their breasts and have white markings on their faces. The breast streaks do not converge in a central spot as on many sparrows. Unlike the House and Cassin's Finches, Purple Finches typically lack streaks on their undertail coverts.