Shari was sitting in the backyard this afternoon, ever vigilant for a Pine Siskin. She thought she had a candidate on our neighbor's feeder and called me outside to look at it. I thought, "maybe." As I was trying to turn it into one for her she decided against it. "No," she thought aloud, "It's a Purple Finch."
How does one get from siskin, a goldfinch like bird, to Purple Finch, a bird, that Peterson says, looks like it was dipped in raspberry juice? Easy, if the bird isn't an adult male. This bird had a notched tail, coarse striping, a pale supercillium, and was chunkier than a House Finch. It was either a first year male or a female.
Check one more off the backyard wish list.
Below, the birds we saw while waiting for the finch to make its various appearances--naturally, by the time we hauled out the camera it stopped coming to the feeder.
Turkey Vulture 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Eastern Bluebird 3
American Robin 1
Pine Warbler 1
Eastern Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 10
Northern Cardinal 1
Purple Finch 1
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