I've read that house finches get their coloration from the food they eat
(like flamingos and spoonbills), and that females choose the males with the
most red because it shows their diet is good and that they're good at
finding food. I wonder what these yellow males are eating, and if the lady
finches like them as much as birders seem too!

Elizabeth Donelan
Olympia, WA


On Mon, 5 Feb 2001 06:18:07 -0800 , cathy.wise at attws.com wrote:

> I had two on my feeders about a month ago that were Copper colored. It
was
> a sunny day and they glowed. Really threw me for a loop about ID at
first
> but I finally concluded they must be house finches. They were quite
> beautiful and I haven't seen them back since.
>
> Thank you,
> Cathy Wise
> cathy.wise at attws.com
> Marysville, WA
>
> > ----------
> > From: Joanne H. Powell[SMTP:jhpowell at iea.com]
> > Reply To: jhpowell at iea.com
> > Sent: Monday, February 05, 2001 5:38 AM
> > To: ixoreus at home.com; smuttart at qwest.net; tweeters
> > Subject: Re: House Finches
> >
> > Hi, Bob and all:
> >
> > We did have a thread going a couple of years ago on house finch
> > coloration.
> > Back in the olden days when I was doing bird tours for the LA zoo the
head
> > of the department said house finches were especially sensitive to
> > chromatic
> > mutation. When I lived in S. Calif. I had house finches in purpley-red,
> > the
> > "ordinary" red that we mostly see here, fire-engine red, golden-orange
> > like
> > an oriole, and bright yellow...all in the same location (at my feeders
in
> > Topanga Canyon in the Santa Monica mountains) so food didn't seem to be
> > the
> > determining factor. Since I've been up here in eastern Washington I
mostly
> > get the "ordinary" red but with a few apricot/peach color that I've not
> > seen
> > anywhere else. I'm looking forward to other postings on this.
> >
> > Regards, Joanne
> > Reardan (Spokane) WA
> > mailto: jhpowell at iea.com
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Robert Sundstrom <ixoreus at home.com>
> > To: smuttart at qwest.net <smuttart at qwest.net>; tweeters
> > <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> > Date: Sunday, February 04, 2001 5:50 PM
> > Subject: Re: House Finches
> >
> >
> > >Hi Susan/Tweeters,
> > >
> > >Male House Finches with yellow coloration where males typically show
red
> > to
> > >red-orange are a very small but regular fraction of the population. I
> > also
> > >have one coming to my feeder this winter, and they turn up in many
large
> > >flocks of House Finches. I seem to have read and already forgotten
that
> > >someone has attempted to link this to nutrition or something to do
with
> > >physiology. No doubt other tweets will pick up this thread with a
more
> > >thorough dissertation.
> > >
> > >Regards, Bob Sundstrom
> > >
> > >ixoreus at home.com
> > >
> > >----- Original Message -----
> > >From: "Susan in WA" <smuttart at qwest.net>
> > >To: "Tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> > >Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2001 12:46 PM
> > >Subject: House Finches
> > >
> > >
> > >> I subscribe to this list because I feed the birds, I like reading
> > >> about other people's bird experiences, and I have a desire to learn.
> > >> I am strictly a novice birder. I don't belong to any bird group
> > >> (unless you count Tweeters as a kind of 'group'), I don't go out in
> > >> the field on any kind of regular basis, and most of my
identifications
> > >> come from watching the birds in my backyard. So, if the following
> > >> question sounds a little silly to some of you more experienced
> > >> birders, I hope you will understand from whence I come.
> > >>
> > >> How common is the yellow house finch in Washington?
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> Susan in WA
> > >> Sumner, Washington
> > >> email: smuttart at qwest.net
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> >





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