Purple Finch or House Finch?

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tclune

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I have been trying to determine whether the attached photo is of Purple Finches or House Finches. One book says that the House Finch has a squared-off tail while the Purple Finch tail shows a notch --so I was thinking these are Purple Finches. Another book says that the House Finch has brown stripes on its side, while the Purple Finch does not -- so I was thinking House Finch. Which is correct? TIA
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I'm in the Connecticut River Valley in western Massachusetts (we call it the Pioneer Valley.) I only moved here after retiring and am relatively new to birding. Those Finches seem to be abundant around here right about now.
 
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tclune said:
I'm in the Connecticut River Valley in western Massachusetts (we call it the Pioneer Valley.) I only moved here after retiring and am relatively new to birding. Those Finches seem to be abundant around here right about now.
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I just checked eBird and yes, they do seem to be around you! I think you're close to the southern edge of their breeding range. To see recent reports go here: https://ebird.org/map/purfin Enter your county on the top right, then for the Date, select June-December and Current Year. All the red marks will be reports of Purple Finches from June of this year in your county.
 
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Turberticus said:
You're welcome! Not sure where you're located, but they mostly breed up in Canada. There are small scattered pockets of them in the eastern half of the northern US during breeding season, especially at higher elevations.
tclune said:
I have been trying to determine whether the attached photo is of Purple Finches or House Finches. One book says that the House Finch has a squared-off tail while the Purple Finch tail shows a notch --so I was thinking these are Purple Finches. Another book says that the House Finch has brown stripes on its side, while the Purple Finch does not -- so I was thinking House Finch. Which is correct? TIA
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There is a slight notch on a House Finch tail and a much deeper notch on Purple Finch tail. Viewing angle in your photo makes it difficult to differentiate. Easier to see field marks are the male House Finch's stripes on belly and flanks, and the curvature of the top of the bill (referred to as culmen). House Finch (both sexes) has noticeable upper mandible curve; Purple Finch has very slight curve. The females of the two species are easier to ID -- The Purple Finch female has a dark "eye mask" that extends back and down into the auricular feathers and it's surrounded by gray/white so it really pops. Female House Finch is plain-faced by comparison. You may have both species in Massachussetts now. Good luck, it's a tough ID to learn because Purple Finches are much less common. I will post a female Purple Finch photo separately that might help.
 
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Turberticus said:
I just checked eBird and yes, they do seem to be around you! I think you're close to the southern edge of their breeding range. To see recent reports go here: https://ebird.org/map/purfin Enter your county on the top right, then for the Date, select June-December and Current Year. All the red marks will be reports of Purple Finches from June of this year in your county.
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This and ypur previous link are terrific. Thanks!
 
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The Merlin app for bird ID from The Cornell Lab is terrific at identifying birds by their calls if they are within 200 feet of the iPhone (shortcoming of the Apple iphone mic. I have been using this app to determine which bird species are on my property when they are out of sight in the vegetation and then I can go looking for them. I currently have recordings for 58 species taken around my house.
 
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cchuck said:
Here is a female Purple Finch with easy-to-see field marks.

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I find the light eyebrow of the Purple Finch is the easiest way to quickly spot the difference. On the female the eyebrow is cream colored while on the male it is reddish purple or magenta but still lighter. We have House Finches year around at our feeders, but in the winter the Purple Finches are occasional visitors.
 
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