From Opus

Carpodacus purpureus

Photo by SarahC
The Ozarks, Arkansas

[edit] Description

6 ins (15.5 cm)
Male

• Raspberry red on head, breast, back and rump
• Streaked back

Female

• Light brown upperparts
• White underparts with dark brown streaks
• White supercilium

Like the House Finch, it has a rare golden-yellow variant of the normal red plumage.

Photo of female by Bill Garber
Richmond, Indiana

[edit] Similar Species

House Finch has brown streaks on belly, less red on head, smaller bill, longer tail, and different call. Cassin's Finch has a paler throat and breast, streaked undertail coverts, and larger bill.

[edit] Distribution

Canada and both the western and eastern United States. Winters south as far as the U.S.-Mexico border.

[edit] Taxonomy

Polytypic. Consists of two subspecies:¹

• C. p. californicus (S. F. Baird, 1858) - western USA and Canada
• C. p. purpureus (Gmelin, 1789) - eastern USA and Canada

[edit] Habitat

Coniferous and mixed forest, as well as various wooded areas along the U.S. Pacific coast.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

These birds forage in trees and bushes, sometimes in ground vegetation. They mainly eat seeds, berries, buds and blossoms, usually from outer branches of trees and sometimes from the ground.

[edit] Breeding

The nest, a cup of twigs and grass and usually lined with hair, is built in a conifer. 3-5 light greenish blue eggs, marked with brown and black, are incubated for 13 days by the female.

[edit] Vocalisation

Song is a mellow, rich warbling. Call is a sharp pik in flight.

[edit] Discussion

This bird has been displaced from some habitat by House Sparrows and then the introduction of House Finches in the east.

This is the state bird of New Hampshire.

[edit] References

1. ITIS

[edit] External Links