Finch Friday

I am making good progress on my owl.  Ironically I've not heard any owls the past couple of weeks. Great Horned Owls are active at dawn and dusk so I often hear them talking to each other.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Evening Grosbeaks, Black-head Grosbeaks, House Finches, Pine Siskins, Lesser Goldfinches, and American Goldfinches were all members of the finch family.  I truly do not know much about bird classification except that like plants ever bird has a Latin name and family.

Evening Grosbeaks for example are have the Latin name of Coccothraustes vespertinus. They belong to the order Passeriformes and the family Fringilldae, and they are a Finch!

And lately they have been everywhere.

In the hedgerow.

At the feeders.

And on the ground.

I think they are stern 'frowny' birds.

And very colorful too.

I've counted as many as 38 birds.  And my is that ever noisy!

As best I can tell I have about 4 male and 2 female Black-headed Grosbeaks.  The males have a very pretty song which you can listen to here. 

Most of the Pine Siskins have left the area.  They breed in the Boreal forests of northern Canada.  I still have 5-7 birds lingering in the area.

House Finches are here all year. 

The males are more colorful now that they are courting.  

Here are my other finches - a Lesser Goldfinch on the left and American Goldfinch on the right.  The Lesser has a darker head, duller colors, and is smaller and more sleek than the American Goldfinch. 

As you can see I also have lots of Goldfinches!

They push and shove - the poor Lesser Goldfinch (far right) has a hard time of it. 

The small teal feeder is my newest purchase.  I thought it was very pretty, and the right size for my smaller birds.

In this photo you can get an idea of the constant motion - the comings and goings at the feeder - there are at least three birds in flight.

I get quite the crowd.

I think my highest count thus far is 34 American Goldfinches.