Towheeblog

Five finch species in our garden today…sometimes three on the feeder at the same time.  If I hang out a welcome banner with images of sunflower seeds could I draw in a flock of Evening Grosbeaks, go for six finch sp.?  The finch family has a thing for sunflowers.  I’ve had Lessers eat the leaves right up to the veins in late summer, after the seeds are all gone.  They left me with sunflower skeletons.  You can click here to see pictures I got of one chowing down on sunflower leaf in August.  Here I have better images of the de-greened leaves.

So the House Finch is a regular here year-round.  In winter we get Lesser Goldfinch (always) and siskin (this year).  Last week two immature Purple Finches showed up.  They won’t breed here but they like the menu.  This morning I glanced out the window and noted some goldfinches in a hanging feeder–those lessers again, I thought.  Then one reared up over the edge of the platform and I saw the bold white wing bars…four female Americans, not a common bird here in winter.  Send those grosbeaks right over, please.  I have absolutely no hoe of luring a crossbill or Cassin’s Finch to this locale.

FINCH FOTOS
First pic has juvie House Finch and male Lesser Goldfinch on platform; two shots of juvie House on ground; adult male on platform showing less streaking and some spring color. Click on any one to enlarge:

American Goldfinch, note the bolder wing bars than the Lesser shows:

Here are tow finchy pics from late last week:

Crowded platform and then a young Purple Finch, beak much larger than House Finch and a discernible pattern on the face.

FOUR IN THE FEEDER
American Goldfinches and siskins, Americans slightly larger:

Here four lessers, two siskins and a junco waiting:

820 NW 19th Street, McMinnville, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Feb 24, 2020
19 species–that’s a rich birding day for this suburban garden
with no running water or willows

Canada Goose  X
Eurasian Collared-Dove  X
California Scrub-Jay  X
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  3
Bushtit  30
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
Bewick’s Wren  1
European Starling  X
American Robin  X
House Sparrow  X
House Finch  3
Purple Finch  1
Pine Siskin  2
Lesser Goldfinch  5
American Goldfinch  4
Dark-eyed Junco  35
Golden-crowned Sparrow  2
Spotted Towhee  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  5

Joe Dancer Park, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Feb 24, 2020
1.0 mile(s)
10 species

Anna’s Hummingbird  1
Wilson’s Snipe  1
Northern Flicker  1
Black-capped Chickadee  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
American Robin  30
House Finch  X
Dark-eyed Junco  40
Song Sparrow  14
Spotted Towhee  3