I have found it very interesting that the distribution of House Finches and
Purple Finches is so scattered. I live near Pine Lake which is some 500 feet
higher in elevation from Bellevue but I never see either species up on the
plateau. But as soon as I go down the hill I can find them pretty fast. But
the same can be said for Robins. Around my house they are very intermittent
but down the hill pretty easy to find. I don't really think that the 500 foot
elevation is the reason for the difference but I don't see any other factors.

Jim Rosso
Issaquah

----------
From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu on behalf of Russell Rogers
Sent: Friday, April 10, 1998 9:30 AM
To: Tweeters
Subject: Re: Purple Finch numbers

Tom,

That is interesting, in that I have never banded a House Finch at McChord.
I see them only rarely there. The only place that I have ever seen them in
my study area is a small stand of locust trees which, strangely enough,
were introduced by homesteaders. The home is long gone but the trees are
still there. When the trees are blooming, they fly in from the urban parts
of the base and head right for the trees. The trees alos attract many
other, mostly carduline finchs, to it as well. Out side of this one little
spot, and only when the trees are blooming, House Finches are unknown to
my study area.

It is also strange that the places where I have banded House Finches,
Seattle and Olympia, I have never banded a Purple Finch. I have not been
here in Olympia long enough to really say. They, Purple Finches, have been
singing from the tree tops, but, I have yet to see one at my feeders. In
Seattle, on the other hand, I did not have Purple Finchg on my yard list
at all.

Russell


On Thu, 9 Apr 1998, Tom Foote wrote:

> Russell--
>
> on the trip we took last Sunday (and you missed.. :)
> Jim Pruske commented that the Purple Finches are
> declining at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge and being
> replaced by House Finches..Jim has been keeping
> good data on shat species there are doing..or not
> doing as the case may be.
>
> Tom