House Finches and Purple Finches look a lot alike with their raspberry-red heads and breasts. We can tell them apart, however, by their tails. Most finches, like the Purple Finch, have a deep notch in their tails, while the House Finch has a barely perceptible notch on theirs. House Finches are very outgoing birds that will readily partake of bird feeders, as seen in this photo. Indigenous to the Southwest, House Finches have been arriving in the east over the past several decades and have proven themselves to be very adaptable.
House Finch photo taken at the bird feeder in my backyard.
