[Birdtalk] Pink Finch Identification

[Mark Stackhouse]

Excellent summary, Kris. Your experience echos my advice to birders for 
years - if you're wondering if any of your House Finches are Cassin's, 
there all House Finches. For people who see House Finches daily at 
their feeders, the first appearance of a Cassin's Finch (even a female) 
will be obvious to you.

Mark Stackhouse
mark at westwings.com
801-487-9453 (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
011-52-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico)

On Dec 18, 2007, at 9:58 AM, Kristin Purdy wrote:

> Ann,
>
> I felt the same way you do about distinguishing between House and 
> Cassin's Finches when I arrived in Utah. After all, the Cassin's range 
> map covers the whole state; they must be at my feeder, right?!? I 
> didn't know Cassin's seasonal movements are irregular and sometimes 
> clinal. I think I looked at EVERY SINGLE feeder finch for 18 months, 
> wondering if THAT one was a Cassin's. And then one day I walked 
> through my kitchen, glanced at the feeder outside the window and knew 
> the moment had arrived. Cassin's were on the feeder. Studying every 
> fine detail of House Finches prepared me to ID Cassin's in an instant.
>
> Size:  Cassin's are larger than House Finches and have different 
> proportions. This is especially obvious when the two species are 
> together; the Cassin's actually looks bulky and robust next to a House 
> Finch.
>
> Proportions: Cassin's have shorter tails, which contributes to their 
> bulky look. House Finches have proportionately longer tails and 
> shorter wings, so their tails just look longer. The House Finch's tail 
> will be the longest of any finch species when you see a mixed flock of 
> silhouettes in a treetop.
>
> Beak: Cassin's and House Finches both have conical seed-cracking 
> bills, but the Cassin's is larger and edges are less curved. The 
> culmen (top side of the upper beak) is relatively straight on a 
> Cassin's and very curved on a House Finch. The line that forms between 
> the upper and lower mandibles when the beak is closed is also more 
> curved on a House Finch and straight on a Cassin's.
>
> Crown Shape: Cassin's Finches tend to have more pointed and angular 
> crown shapes, plus they raise and lower their crown feathers more 
> often. House Finches have very rounded crowns and I don't remember 
> seeing the shape change much. A male House Finch plumage character 
> might give a different impression; because of the band of color across 
> the male House Finch's forehead, sometimes they look to me like they 
> have puffy foreheads.
>
> Plumage characters, males:
> Male Cassin's Finches are distinctly pink, raspberry, and the brown 
> streaked backs have a pink wash. The crown is the raspberry part and 
> it contrasts distinctly with the back of the head and the side of the 
> face. In addition, the face has a defined pattern including pale pink 
> streak from behind the eye to the back of the neck, brown auricular 
> patch, pale pink cheek under the eye, and brown malar.
>
> Male House Finches may look pink, yellow, reddish or orange. The most 
> prominent facial feature is what I call their visor--a fat band of 
> color that extends across the forehead and over both eyes. The 
> distinctiveness of this feature is variable. House Finches may also 
> show brownish auriculars.
>
> Breast color/pattern: Cassin's Finches breasts are mostly unmarked and 
> pink. They have a little streaking along the sides, but the streaking 
> is not significant. House Finches have more streaking along the sides 
> and lower breast and belly.
>
> Back and wings: Both birds are primarily brown streaked on their backs 
> and wings, but Cassin's backs always look washed in pink to me. In 
> addition, House Finches are more likely to show a bright rump patch 
> that's the same color as the bright areas of the upper body.
>
> Plumage characters, females:
> Female Cassin's finches have the same plumage characters as the males, 
> but take away the pink and raspberry color and add crisp breast 
> streaks against a whitish background. The facial pattern is brown, 
> contrasting with whitish where their mates are pink or raspberry. 
> Their breast streaks are narrow and crisp. Everything about the female 
> House Finch looks murky to me. Their color is grayish-brown, their 
> streaks are fatter and ill-defined; there are few patterns that 
> contrast.
>
> Behavior: These are my yard observations only. Cassin's are more wary 
> of disturbances, slower to return to feeding areas, but very 
> aggressive toward each other and other species. They feed primarily on 
> the ground in seed litter and will feed in the trays of hopper 
> feeders. I only rarely see them on perches of tube feeders.
>
> Sound: Learn the calls. I first discovered Cassin's in my yard this 
> season because I heard them out in the yard. The call note is often 
> described as "Chilly-up!", but I haven't found it to be that distinct. 
> It's reminiscent of that sound, but also has a warbling tone to it. 
> House Finches tend to do just single, simple cheeps or a fast string 
> of them when fighting at the feeder.
>
> Use the Utah Birds photo gallery to study both species. Our 
> photographers have shared a great collection of images:
>
> Cassin's: 
> http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/BirdsA-C/CassinsFinch.htm
>
> House: http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/BirdsD-K/HouseFinch.htm
>
> Kris
>
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