Strange how a "fairly common occurrence in House Finch" is not pictured in my Sibley's or Stokes. I have also been unable to locate a better picture online so that I can get a good look at what an orange-variant "usually" looks like. All I've found are lists (mostly eastern US) where these birds are noted. Would you perhaps have a link for the rest of us to look at?

Thanks,

Karla

Karla Grimwood
Carnation (Lake Marcel), WA
p_grimwood at msn.com

----- Original Message -----
From: David Allinson
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2002 9:30 AM
To: Tweeters
Subject: Photo ID

To put you all out of your misery, the bird in photo is absolutely,
positively an orange-variant House Finch (a lack of pigment causes this
orange over red; actually a fairly common occurrence in House Finch)!

David Allinson
President, Rocky Point Bird Observatory
572 Atkins Avenue
Victoria, BC
V9B 3A3
Ph. (250)478-0493

Web site: www.islandnet.com/~rpbo
273 species and counting!
Look for a bargraph checklist coming soon.

"Not everything that can be counted counts,
and not everything that counts can be counted."
Albert Einstein