Description of House Finch bird and the nesting, feeding habits

The House Finch

house finch
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Before 1936, the male House Finch was kept in pet stores and sold as "Hollywood Finches," because of it's plumage and pleasant songs. Released into the wild, North American bird watchers now enjoy watching this bird at their feeders.

Description

The male House Finch has a length of about 5 1/2 inches, with red on the head, upper breast and flanks. In some regions the color red may be replaced with yellow or orange. This is due to the differences in regional diets.

The female has a uniformly brown-streaked head with broad brown streaking on the breast and belly. The under tail coverts are usually unstreaked.

Mating Habits

During courtship, females solict food from prospective mates.

The males either mock feed or actually regurgitate food in the female's mouth.

During the mating season, males may be seen carrying sticks or other nesting material in their bills. As with most songbirds, they are monogamous.

One interesting detail is that the males will defend their female mate rather than a nesting territory as other birds do.

Nesting Habits

Although bird watchers may see the male with nesting material, the female builds the actual nest.

The nest is cup shaped and made of twigs, grasses, and leaves. These finches will nest in a variety of artificial and natural cavites such as old woodpecker holes, hanging plants, and occasionally birdhouses.

The nest is located 5 to 7 feet above ground.

The female lays 2 to 6 bluish with fine speckling eggs. Incubation is done by the female for 12 to 14 days and the young will leave the nest in about 11 to 19 days after hatching.

During the incubation time and for about five days after the young have hatched, the male, will feed the female on the nest. He does this by regurgitating seed into the females mouth.

The female regurgitates the food to the nestlings.

After the young have fledged, the parents continue to feed the young. The female may find a new mate and raise another brood while the male continues to feed the young.

House finches have been known to raise more than two broods in a season.

Feeding Habits

Unlike many other birds who switch their eating habits in spring and summer, Finches are vegetarians.

Their diet consist of seeds, fruit, buds,and weed seeds. Even during the breeding season these birds regurgitate seeds to their young.

The House Finch forages both on the ground and in trees. Bird watchers can easily attract this bird to feeders by offering sunflower seed, although we recommend using one of the Squirrel Proof Feeders.

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