House Finch

Agreed! When I am sure the bears are hibernating (which I have heard they may not do some of these mild winters!) I will put up my feeders again and may have a few House Finches and certainly some Purple Finches, which I love the song of too!

Sorry here is the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_finch

Hi Jemma. Nice photos of the House Finch. You mention a couple times in your comments that this is an introduced bird. The House Finch is native to southwestern North America where you live and to Mexico. It was introduced to Eastern North America by cage releases and has spread rapidly there, with the native western population and the introduced eastern populations increasing their range towards the centre of the continent. I have included a link for the Wiki page that talks a bit about this, but you can find it in other places too. I love these birds too and look forward to their visits!

Great shots Jemma!

Beautiful !

Awesome capture Jemma,this bird have a beautiful red chest and the pictures are perfect,congrats and thanks for sharing

beautiful close ups

Wow, great additions Jemma. Amazing detail.

Hi Jemma, I would agree that it is a house finch. The distinguishing characteristic on the males are the darkly streaked flanks which you can see beautifully in your picture. Both the purple finch and the Cassin's Finch males lack that streaking. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch/id Congratulations on another beautiful spotting.

beautiful spotting-love it! :) if you ask me, this looks a lot like a house finch. it's definitely not cassin's finch, and i would also cross out purple finch. but maybe somebody more adequate should confirm that.