These pretty finches are an infrequent visitor to our garden in the spring and fall. Ive never seen one during the summers and only rarely at the feeders in winter. Purple Finches are commonly mistaken for House Finches so I thought it would be fun to post this next to the previous House Finch shot for comparison. These male Purple Finches are always a deep reddish purple while the male House finches can vary from the red-violet color of my previous post to orange and even yellow in some cases. The heads of House Finches have a distinct headband of color with a brown cap vs the top of the head of the Purple Finch is clear purple with no brown with a lighter stripe over the eye, darker ear coverts, nape and a malar stripe.
