Purple Finch

Fairly common, but seen much less often in Sonoma County than its close relative the House Finch. Present all year, but numbers increase in the spring and into the summer. Sightings are most common during the breeding season. Favors mixed forest edge habitats and brushy areas. Fairly common feeder visitor in the winter.

Males are likely to be confused only with House Finch. The two birds may be hard to distinguish at a distance or if viewed only fleetingly through brush or tree branches or on the wing, but a good look should allow them to be separated without too much difficulty. Purple Finch is washed with a raspberry color distributed over the back as well as the head, upper breast, scapulars and coverts, and the bird is less streaky on the sides and belly than House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus), being mostly white or pale below with irregular patches of the raspberry color. House Finch tends to be more reddish or orange in color than the raspberry Purple Finch--although color is variable in both species and color alone is not a reliable indicator. In Purple Finch, look for a darker, brownish ear patch (that extends to around the eye) and a touch of dark brown where a malar stripe is often found in sparrows, these offset by a broad, paler “eyebrow” and a light area just below the ear patch. The head is all you really need to see. Focus on this pattern of light and dark and on the shape of the head.

Male House Finch has the heavy-browed look you may associate with caricatures of cavemen and will almost always have brown on the top of the head; Purple Finch has a more elegant brow, without the bulge, and will be raspberry-colored also on the top of the head--with no brown, except at the nape. Purple Finch may look very slightly crested. The line created by the junction of the upper and lower sections of the bill is markedly curved in Purple Finch, straighter in House Finch.

When in doubt, it's probably a House Finch in Sonoma County, but it's always worth checking to be be sure. Female Purple Finch looks very much like female House Finch, but a female Purple Finch will have the more distinct facial pattern of its male counterpart, with the pale, broad eyebrow, the dark patch at the "ear" with a pale area below it and then the darker malar streak. Also note that female House Finch will have streaking throughout its underparts while female Purple Finch tends to be plain white at the vent. Female Purple Finch is typically more streaked on the breast and flanks than the male.

This bird and other finches were moved to the genus Haemorhous in late 2012. Older sources will list this bird as Carpodacus purpureus.