The purple finch (''Haemorhous purpureus'') is a bird in the finch

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

, Fringillidae.

Taxonomy

This species and the other "American rosefinches" were formerly included with the rosefinches of Eurasia in the genus ''

Carpodacus The rosefinches are a genus, ''Carpodacus'', of passerine birds in the finch family Fringillidae. Most are called "rosefinches" and as the word implies, have various shades of red in their plumage. The common rosefinch is frequently called the " ...

''; however, the three North American species are not closely related to the rosefinches of the Old World, and have thus been moved to the genus ''Haemorhous'' by most taxonomic authorities. It is included in the finch

, Fringillidae, which is made up of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s found in the northern hemisphere, Africa, and South America. The purple finch was originally described by

Johann Friedrich Gmelin , fields = , workplaces = University of GöttingenUniversity of Tübingen , alma_mater = University of Tübingen , doctoral_advisor = Philipp Friedrich GmelinFerdinand Christoph Oetinger , academic_advisors = , doctora ...

in 1789. There are two subspecies of the purple finch, ''H. p. purpureus'' and ''H. p. californicus''. ''H. p. californicus'' was identified by

Spencer F. Baird Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He eventually ...

in 1858. It differs from the nominate subspecies in that it has a longer tail and shorter wings. The

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

of both males and females is darker, and the coloration of the females is more greenish. The bill of ''H. p. californicus'' is also longer than that of the nominate subspecies.

Description

Adults have a short forked brown tail and brown wings. Adult males are

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...

red on the head, breast, back and rump; their back is streaked. Adult females have light brown upperparts and white underparts with dark brown streaks throughout; they have a white line on the face above the eye. Measurements: * Length: 4.7-6.3 in (12-16 cm) * Weight: 0.6-1.1 oz (18-32 g) * Wingspan: 8.7-10.2 in (22-26 cm)

Habitat and distribution

Their breeding habitat is

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

ous and mixed forest in Canada and the northeastern United States, as well as various wooded areas along the U.S. Pacific coast. They nest on a horizontal branch or in a fork of a tree. Birds from

northern Canada Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada#Territories, territor ...

migrate Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

to the southern United States; other birds are permanent residents. The purple finch population has declined sharply in the East due to the

house finch The house finch (''Haemorhous mexicanus'') is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is native to western North America and has been introduced to the eastern half of the continent and Hawaii. This species and the other two American rosef ...

. Most of the time, when these two species collide, the house finch outcompetes the purple finch. This bird has also been displaced from some habitat by the introduced

house sparrow The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of and a mass of . Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, a ...

Behavior

Diet

These birds forage in trees and bushes, sometimes in ground vegetation. They mainly eat seeds, berries, and insects. They are fond of sunflower seeds, millet, and thistle.

Nesting

The Purple Finch prefers nesting in lowland coniferous and mixed forests, avoiding more heavily populated urban areas, but sometimes found in rural residential areas. The female Purple Finch usually builds her nest on horizontal branches of coniferous trees, away from the trunk, but occasionally in tree forks. The nest is shaped like an open cup, made up of rootlets, twigs, and weeds, and lined with grass, hair, and moss.

Cultural depictions

This is the state bird of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. In 1763, Richard Brookes made the description of the female purple finch in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

with the name of "chiantototl" ( chia seed bird).Brookes, Richard (1763). ''The Natural History of Birds.'' Vol 2, p 205.

References

External links

Interesting Purple Finch Facts at BirdHouses101.com
* *

– Cornell Lab of Ornithology {{Taxonbar, from=Q27075782 Haemorhous Birds described in 1789 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin Endemic birds of North America Extant Late Pleistocene first appearances