Tweeters,

As per requested, here is a small list of studies that have been done on coloration in house finches. Enjoy! You should be able to find most on the net by searching for the title in Google.

Jeff Kozma
Yakima, WA

Zahn, S. N and S. I. Rothstein. 1999. Recent increase in male house
finch plumage variation and its possible relationship to avian pox
disease. Auk 116:35-44.

McGraw, K. J. and G. E. Hill. 2000. Plumage brightness and
breeding-season dominance in the house finch: a negatively correlated
handicap. Condor 102:456-461.

Hill, G. E. 1995. Seasonal variation in circulating carotenoid
pigments in the House Finch. Auk 112:1057-1061.

Hill, G. E. 1995. Interspecific variation in plasma hue in relation to
carotenoid plumage pigmentation. Auk 112:1054-1057.

Hill, G. E. 1992. Proximate basis of variation in carotenoid
pigmentation in male House Finches. Auk 109:1-12.

Brush, A. H. and D. M. Power. 1976. House Finch pigmentation:
carotenoid metabolism and the effect of diet. Auk 93:725-739.

Brown, M. B. and C. R. Brown. 1988. Access to winter food resources by
bright - versus dull-colored House Finches. Condor 90:729-731.

McGraw, K. J. and G. E. Hill. 2004. Plumage color as a dynamic trait:
carotenoid pigmentation of male House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus)
fades during the breeding season. Can. J. Zool. 82:734-738.

McGraw, K. J. and G. E. Hill. 2000. Carotenoid-based ornamentation and
status signaling in the House Finch. Behav. Ecol. 11:520-527.

Badyaev, A. V., G. E. Hill, P. O. Dunn, and J. C. Glen. 2001. Plumage
color as a composite trait: developmental and functional integration of
sexual ornamentation. Amer. Nat. 158:221-235.

Hill, G. E., K. L. Farmer, and M. L. Beck. 2004. The effect of
mycoplasmosis on carotenoid plumage coloration in male House Finches.
J. of Experimental Biol. 207:2095-2099.

Inouye, C. Y., G. E. Hill, R. Montgomerie, and R. D. Stradi. 2001.
Carotenoid pigments in the plumage of male House Finches in relation to
age, subspecies and ornamental coloration. Auk 118:900-915.

Hill, G. E., R. Montgomerie, C. Y. Inouye, and J. Dale. 1994.
Influence of dietary carotenoids on plasma and plumage color in the
House Finch: intra- and intersexual variation. Funct. Ecology
8:343-350.

Hill, G. E., P. M. Nolan and A. M. Stoehr. 1999. Pairing success
relative to male plumage redness and pigment symmetry in the House
Finch: temporal and geographic constancy. Behav. Ecol. 10:48-53.

Hill, G. E. 1999. Is there an immunological cost to carotenoid-based
ornamental coloration? Amer. Nat. 154:589-595.