Small finch with a conical seed-eating bill. Adult males have a raspberry red head, breast, and back.
Females are coarsely streaked below, with strong facial markings including a whitish eyebrow and a dark line down the side of the throat.
Often forages in the upper parts of trees eating mainly seeds and soft buds of evergreen trees and elms, tulip poplars, maples, and others.
Individuals from the western states tend to be more olive colored on the back with less well-defined streaks on the belly. Their head pattern is also less distinct.
Small, somewhat stocky finch. Like other finches, it has a notched tail. Adult males have a raspberry red head, breast, and back.
Females/immatures are brown overall with crisp brown streaking on the breast and flanks. Also note white eyebrow.
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Among the small forest birds like chickadees, kinglets, and nuthatches, Purple Finches are large and chunky. Their powerful, conical beaks are larger than any sparrow’s. The tail seems short and is clearly notched at the tip.
About the same size as House Finch and House Sparrow
sparrow-sized or smallerPurple Finches from the Pacific Coast are duller and sing a faster song than Eastern birds.
Finches, Euphonias, and Allies(Order: Passeriformes, Family: Fringillidae)
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