In response to Jim Brewster's finch:

Hi Jim: Don't know how many responses you've gotten to this but here's one
more.

I have lived in various parts of the country and have seen house finches in
deep purplely red, bright red, reddish orange, orange (oriole type orange),
yellow-orange and "goldfinch" yellow. I have read that house finches are
particularly susceptible to chromatic mutations (but not what causes them,
if known). Hope this helps.

Regards,
Joanne Powell
Reardan, Wa
jhpowell at snapwa.org