House Finch
This little bird shouldn't offer you any big trouble.
By: Jerry Poindexter
Photography by Glenn Bartley
The house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) measures between five and six inches in length. It has a red crown, breast, and rump. The house finch is often confused with the purple or Cassin's finch but has a smaller body than the other finches, with a stubby bill and a much more curved culmen. In the early 1940s before the Migratory Bird Treaty, pet suppliers on the West Coast sold the house finch to shops in the East under the name Hollywood finch.
This article is from the Fall 2010 issue. For more information on our issues, check out our issues page.