On our way back home from Bandon over the 4th weekend, we stopped at Shore Acres State Park to walk through the wonderful garden they have there. Other than at my feeder, I got my first sighting of a Purple Finch. It was singing up a storm on a pine branch along the edge of the garden. It seems odd to me that while I see Purple Finches regularly at my feeder, I had not seen one in the field other up until then.Tonight I saw a bird at my feeder that I wasn't quite sure of, so I grabbed my camera and took some pictures. It was pretty tolerant of me so I figured it was probably a juvenile and when I got a look at the pictures the gummy corners of its bill confirmed my suspicion.
So the next thing to consider was what species was it? My thought the whole time was a Purple Finch because of the frequency of adults I get (I actually get many more Purple Finches than House Finches). Though it has much less of an eyebrow than a similar looking female, I really think this is a juvenile Purple Finch. Let me know if you know otherwise, or if you know for sure!
It's funny, as a kid back in New England we had sooooo many Purple Finches they were old news. I don't think I've seen a single one since I've been birding in Oregon. I'm terrible at juvenile birds, good luck!
ReplyDeleteThe pale eyebrow that wraps around the ear coverts, as well as the bill shape all confirm Purple Finch. Good job on the very tough ID!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the conformation and the compliment Greg.
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