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Cool Facts |
Photo
taken from:
The
Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America by
David Allen Sibley
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- The Purple Finch uses its big beak and tongue to crush seeds and
extract the nut. They do a similar trick to get at nectar without eating
an entire flower, and also to get to a seed buried inside a fleshy
fruit.
- Purple Finches seem to be losing numbers in eastern North America as
House Finches have moved in after being brought to New York City in the
1950s. One study of finch behavior found that Purple Finches lost out to
House Finches more than 95% of the times the two birds encountered each
other.
- Into their rich warbling songs, Purple Finches sometimes add in the
sounds of other species, including Barn Swallows, American Goldfinches,
Eastern Towhees, and Brown-headed Cowbirds.
- Birds that eat fruits are doing plants a favor by distributing their
seeds later on. But finches eat the seeds themselves. Though they may
not look the part, finches are predators. From a seed's point of view,
these birds' hefty beaks mark the end of the line.
- The oldest recorded Purple Finch lived to be 11 years 9 months old.
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Description |
Size & Shape
Among the small forest birds like chickadees, kinglets, and
nuthatches, Purple Finches are large and chunky. Their powerful, conical
beaks are larger than any sparrow’s. The tail seems short and is clearly
notched at the tip.
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Color Pattern Male Purple Finches are delicate pink-red on the
head and breast, mixing with brown on the back and cloudy white on the
belly. Female Purple Finches have no red. They are coarsely streaked
below, with strong facial markings including a whitish eyestripe and a
dark line down the side of the throat. |
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Range Map |
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Taxonomic Hierarchy |
© 2003 Cornell Lab of Ornithology
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Kingdom: |
Animalia |
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Phylum: |
Chordata |
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Subphylum: |
Vertebrata |
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Class: |
Aves |
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Order: |
Passeriformes |
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Family: |
Fringillidae |
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Subfamily: |
Carduelinae |
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Genus: |
Carpodacus |
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Species: |
Carpodacus purpureus |
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Subspecies: |
- Carpodacus purpureus californicus
- Carpodacus purpureus purpureus
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Sound |
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Typical call note is a short, low tek.
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Identification and
Information
See
Anatomy
of a Bird
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Body |
- Length
Range: 14-16 cm (5.5-6.25 in)
- Weight:
34 g (1.2 oz)
- Size:
Small (5 - 9 in)
- Color
Primary: Red, Brown, Purple or Violet
- Underparts:
White with red-brown breast.
- Upperparts:
Red-brown with brown streaks.
- Back
Pattern: Striped or streaked
- Belly
Pattern: Solid
- Breast
Pattern: Solid
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Head |
- Bill Shape:
Cone
- Eye Color:
Dark brown.
- Head
Pattern: Eyeline, Streaked, Malar or
malar stripe
- Crown Color:
Red-brown with brown streaks.
- Forehead
Color: Red-brown
- Nape Color:
Red-brown with brown streaks.
- Throat
Color: Red-brown
- Cere color:
No Data
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Flight |
- Flight
Pattern: Swift bounding flight with rapid
wing beats.
- Wingspan
Range: 23-27 cm (9.25-10.5 in)
- Wing Shape:
Rounded-Wings
- Tail Shape:
Squared Tail
- Tail
Pattern: Solid
- Upper Tail:
Dark Brown
- Under Tail:
Dark Brown
- Leg Color:
Black
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Breeding |
- Breeding Location:
Forests, coniferous, Forest edge, Mountains,
Scrub vegetation areas
- Breeding Type:
Monogamous
- Breeding Population:
Fairly common
- Egg Color:
Light green blue with black and briwn
markings
- Number of Eggs:
3 - 5
- Incubation Days:
13
- Egg Incubator:
Female
- Nest Material:
Twigs, weeds, rootlets, strips of bark, and
string with moss and grass lining.
- Migration:
Northern birds migrate
- Condition at Hatching: Naked,
eyes closed, helpless.
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Other Names |
Similar Species |
- Roselin pourpré (French)
- Gorrión purpúreo (Spanish)
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- House Finch
- Cassin's Finch
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Conservation Status |
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Purple Finch numbers are still high, but populations in the
north and east of their range seem to be declining. This may
be due to competition with the recently arrived House Finch. |
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Habitat |
Sources used to
Construct this Page: |
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Purple Finches breed mainly in coniferous forests or mixed deciduous
and coniferous woods. During winter you can find them in a wider
variety of habitats, including shrublands, old fields, forest edges,
and backyards. |
- Wootton, J. Timothy. 1996. Purple Finch (Carpodacus
purpureus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole,
Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from
the Birds of North America
- Dunne, P. 2006. Pete Dunne’s essential field guide
companion. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
- Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The
birder’s handbook. Simon & Schuster Inc., New York.
- Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Longevity Records
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Food |
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Purple Finches eat mainly seeds of coniferous trees and elms, tulip
poplars, maples, and others. They also eat soft buds, nectar
(extracted by biting the bases off flowers), and many berries and
fruit, including blackberries, honeysuckle, poison ivy, crabapples,
juniper berries, cherries, and apricots. In winter you may see
Purple Finches eating seeds of low plants like dandelions, ragweed,
and cocklebur. They eat some insects, including aphids,
caterpillars, grasshoppers, and beetles. |
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Behavior |
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Purple Finches readily come to feeders for black oil sunflower
seeds. You’ll also see them in forests, where they can be noisy but
hard to see as they forage high in trees. In winter they may descend
to eat seeds from plants and stalks in weedy fields. Their flight is
undulating. |
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Adult Male |
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Adult Female |
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