Purple Finch vs. House Finch - Bird Identification

[@tanjarandoja2069]

Thank you for showing multiple examples of each bird, it was very helpful! 🙂

[@avendraprashad4608]

Really appreciate this video fam, thank you ✊🏼

[@webstercat]

Do they have a preference for food?

[@JA51711]

Great. Thank you.

[@anitam2439]

Very helpful..thanks!

[@LycoBirds]

Thanks Anita!

[@chromicapop4595]

Since yesterday our yard has gotten house finch males

[@artpsych71]

Also; the end of the tail are more forked among purple fiches, than with house finches.

[@LycoBirds]

Yeah, definitely often cited as a field mark, and is usually true. I'm always torn on whether to mention that one though because it's so easy for people to focus just on that and mess up the ID. For example, compare macaulaylibrary.org/asset/117200901 with macaulaylibrary.org/asset/191711571 -- I would guess if a relatively inexperienced birder is trying to use tail fork on those two, they are going to get confused in a hurry if they don't have additional field marks to fall back on. And if you use macaulaylibrary.org/asset/44533451 as an example, it barely looks like it has any fork. And then you can get into trouble with the angle, etc. So, I personally don't find that field mark all that useful in many circumstances since there are more reliable traits to use, which is why I often don't mention it at all.

[@artpsych71]

Interesting. Thank you.

[@BillHiltonJr]

I appreciate your efforts to clear up difficulties in identifying these two species. :-) However, it is incorrect to refer to brown Purple Finches as females. Young (first year/second year) male Purple Finches are brown like females; it takes them two years to develop their red plumage. By comparison, young male House Finches are brown until their first fall and can be reliably sexed after about mid-October.

[@LycoBirds]

I appreciate the clarification, and it’s precisely why I referred to “female-type” plumage at the start of the ID section. As an introductory-level video, I didn’t want to devote too much of the video talking about age-related plumage details given that they don’t really impact the ID between the two species. It can be a tough line to walk between “useful” to a beginner and “technically correct”

[@BillHiltonJr]

​@@LycoBirds Again, I appreciate your video. I agree that getting the species straight is important, but also that even beginners should learn the facts about any species. A simple statement "In Purple Finches young males are brown and look like females" is both simple and factual. :-)

[@alidi4144]

Karen bird watcher

[@Laryngitis1960]

NOW I finally know everything! *sarcasm* TY! 👍👍👍