Here’s a male Purple Finch

(Carpodacus purpureus)

7 NOV 2010. You can

see how apt was the

description by Roger Tory

Peterson: “Like a sparrow

dipped in raspberry

juice.” In contrast to the

House Finches on page 13,

the Purple Finch males

don’t have the bold belly

stripes, and their red is

of a different hue.

You can see how much

more boldly marked the

female Purple Finches are

compared to the House

Finch females. These

females show the dark

malar stripe, the dark

ear patch and the light

streak behind the eye.

I find that most of my Purple Finch photos

have been taken in November. I start seeing

them when the weather gets cool, then they

stick around most of the winter.

6 Nov 2010

6 Nov 2010

6 Nov 2010