Hi All,
I'm hoping you can help with the following bird ID. I think it's a purple finch (female), but there are two problems:
1 - The beak doesn't look like a finch beak to me
2 - I have not (in 4 years) seen a male purple finch on my property. Meanwhile this (female) bird is common in my yard.
Any ideas?
My first thought is female Rose Breasted Grosbeak. I'm sure others will weigh in
jec,
That was actually my first thought too, but the markings say "finch" to me. I'm wondering if this is some sort of species variation - I live at approximately 2000' above sea level.
Ian
Looks like a finch beak to me. Hard for me to ID the girls.
It's a little hard to tell from that picture, but I do see a little bit of the white chin strap RBGs have and to me the breast streaking and bill shape/color are more consistent with grosbeaks.. I also can't make a good judgement on size from the picture. How big was it, what was it doing and what kid of habitat do you have?
Yep, female Purple Finch. The bill shape is characteristic for it, with a nearly straight culmen (top edge), not curved like on a House Finch.
Resin
So,
Female Purple Finch it is :-) . Thanks everyone for your help!
Ian
