Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds that Begin with an “F”
I almost added a Flying Squirrel, but decided one plastic Flamingo was enough for a single post. The finches are the only birds I see that begin with an “f.” There are others, but they don’t drop by.
This summer, the Brown-Headed Cowbirds have taken over the feeder and as soon as it warms up a bit more, I’m going to take down the feeders for a couple of weeks in the hopes that they may move on before I put them back up. There’s more than enough to eat out back right now, so they will be okay. the cowbirds aren’t even afraid of us. They just sit there, like they own the joint. You pretty much have to push them off their perch to get them to move and even then, they just fly to a nearby tree, wait for you to leave, and come back. They have been emptying out the feeders — completely — between breakfast and lunch.
Share this:
Categories: #Birds, #Birds, #Photography, Anecdote, flying, Goldfinch, House Finch, Wildlife
SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
The Purple Finches don’t have the dark stripes on their chest and belly like the House Finches. It is one of the true signs of seeing the difference. The females are totally different in that the stripes are wider and more prominent in the Purple Finch than the House Finch.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Purple_Finch/id#
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch/id
Hope this helps! I mis-identified them for several years. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m never sure, often because i don’t see the WHOLE bird. If the Cowbirds leave, I might see them again.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I can’t tell without my binoculars or if I take a picture. I was pretty sure I had them this year and was able to get photos. Sent them to the audubon ladies that I know and they confirmed. We had 3 females and 3 males. Not sure they were mated up but that is the most we counted at any point. It was a thrill to see because they are uncommon and are on the rare list for here with eBird. It was really exciting to have them with the House Finches to have the comparison. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love your finches, especially the two dual over the feeder! What an awesome shot! I’m not sure your Purple Finch is that. Purple Finches do not have any striping on their belly. Can you check that one? I had to email my finch photos to the Audubon and I had them this winter amongst my House Finches but their bellies are white, no stripes and a little red towards the edges of the inside of the belly. We had Cowbirds at the feeder a couple of weeks ago. They were only here for a short time because the Mockingbirds were in the nest. Typical! I’m sure they left a deposit and moved on. LOL! 🙂
LikeLike
I haven’t seen that guy since I took the picture. My book says they do have striping, but it’s “less differentiated” than on the House Finch … but I’m not really sure what that means. So it was either a purple finch or a really dark red house finch.
The cowbirds are driving the other birds away. I’m going to have to take the food down for a couple of weeks. At least it will be warm and there’s plenty of food in the woods. They lurk in the trees — dozens of them. It’s a very Hitchcockian moment.
This article has two picture of house and purple at the top (Audubon). Honestly? I don’t see how you can tell the difference between a very red house finch and a purple finch.
https://www.audubon.org/news/house-finch-or-purple-finch-heres-how-tell-them-apart
LikeLiked by 2 people
We have house finch and goldfinch around here, but I have rarely seen any. I guess if I would hang a feeder we would get more visitors. We have plenty of robins, sparrows, cardinals, and European starlings. I am not sure why they come all the way from Europe to hang out in the backyard. There is a Downy Woodpecker or two. I rarely spot them, but I hear them when they are around. We have chased pigeons away from the house. I guess that is the best we can do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Starlings were brought over here by someone who thought it was a good idea in 1859. Now, we have MILLIONS of them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
They run around the backyard some days along with the robins and sparrows. Who knew we has so many worms?
LikeLike
Just brilliant! 😺
LikeLike
I would have liked a Falcon in there somewhere, but though I’ve seen them, they never pose for me. Someday 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Falcons and eagles are very difficult to capture. They spend their lives very high in the sky!
LikeLike
Beautiful photography Marilyn! Some of those pictures are better than I’ve seen in professional Audobon magazines! That’s a revenue source you might consider, I think they’d be happy to pay you for the gorgeous shots you take! But I understand that once that line between ‘job’ and ‘fun activity’ is crossed it’s hard to step back over..
LikeLike
I’ve sold a few pictures over the years. I actually sold more paintings than photographs, so many that I don’t have any left and no one would sell me one back. Meanies. But now that everyone has a cell phone or a camera, everyone is a photographer — or thinks they are. It’s a tough market. I actually DID give it a try when I had my own online shop — that would have been like 2007 or 2008 — right before the big recession closed me down (or, more to the point, I saw the disaster coming and closed down while I could still have a close out sale and get rid of a lot of inventory). Eventually it would have gotten better — and a few years later, it did improve, but I didn’t want to go back to spending all my time writing advertising copy, packing and shipping. Also, that was before they were requiring sales tax, so it was a lot more profitable then than it is now.
And finally, I don’t think the quality of my work is good enough. The pictures are pretty, but there are quality issues I don’t address because I put everything online where it doesn’t have to be quite as perfect as it needs to be when you print it.
I’ve been urged to try contests and sales — but I think that the print quality issue — which would mean actually paying for Adobe online and getting an even bigger computer (back to a desktop — I think I’ve got as big a laptop as anyone makes). It’s a lot of investment for what could very likely be no money. It’s why I don’t write another book, too. No money in it. What you cry? No money? I probably broke even on the first book, at least in terms of cost vs. sales because the book sold pretty well for the first year and a half — as Indie sales go — but after that I discovered I had cancer in both breasts and somehow, the book seemed a lot less important after that.
I do, however, willingly and voluntarily AND FOR FREE send printable versions of pictures to other bloggers who want them. I also give them the name of the company I use to print — very reasonable and high quality. They also frame them for a pretty modest amount. If there is something you really like, let me know and I’ll send you a higher quality file that you can send out and it will come back beautifully printed, framed, with glass on top and everything. Anything up to 14 X 18 inches, but they have a menu, so you can also have things printed on canvas or glass or aluminum or even wood or fabric (want a tee shirt or a mug?). Canvas prints really look like paintings.
I did a lot of business for almost six years AFTER retiring and I did surprisingly well — a lot better than I imagined I would do since I’m not much of a business person. But I also worked all day every day. I’m a terrible boss and I never gave me any time off. Hell, the computer was about 10 steps from the bed, after all. But all the wrapping and shipping — that was all post office — which has become a total disaster. I don’t think I could do it again. It was a LOT of work, though at the time, I did love it. I’m older and more tired. I could use the money, but not the headaches.
LikeLike
They are so lovely Birds, Marilyn.
LikeLike
They are beautiful. I think that’s why we are so willing to go out of our way to make sure we feed them in the hopes that we will be able to keep them around. Seeing them makes me happy.
LikeLiked by 1 person