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

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

Fringillidae The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

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

, 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 th ...

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 lightweig ...

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

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

. 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.

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 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 to the nor ...

. In 1763,

Richard Brookes Richard Brookes (fl. 1721 – 1763) was an English physician and author of compilations and translations on medicine, surgery, natural history, and geography, most of which went through several editions. Life He was at one time a rural practit ...

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