Are Purple Finches making a comeback in Seattle?

I have been hearing and then finding / seeing Purple Finches the last
few springs at Lincoln Park and Camp Long. I hadn't observed them in
Seattle prior to that (at least not that I can remember). I don't know
how much this is due to keying in to vocalizations that I had recently
reviewed, but hadn't known well since my Vermont high school birding
years, when I knew all of the frequent vocalizations of all of the birds
I regularly observed there. Purple Finches are common in the
Douglas-firs in the South Sound prairies where I worked the last 2
seasons and I had a chance to re-familiarize myself with their
vocalizations then. I also was a bit embarrassed when someone else at
Camp Long a couple of years ago was observing Purple Finches that I had
missed and I realized I should be listening for them and then found them
frequent, at least during migration for these last few seasons.
Yesterday I was hearing them in multiple locations at Lincoln as I have
since a week or 2 ago. I heard that some had bred in Seattle (Discovery
Park?) recently. How much are we seeing a trend of resurging Purple
Finches that I imagine were common in Seattle 100 years ago and how much
am I just observing birds I had overlooked until I re-familiarized
myself with the song and came to expect them? Now knowing how common
they are in Thurston County, it would almost seem strange that they
would be absent from Seattle. Has there been an increasing trend in the
South Sound that is now overflowing into less prime habitat in Seattle?

It is sometimes theorized that the introduction (or immigration) of
House Finches displaced Purple Finches. It is hard to know if there is
any validity to this. They seem to occupy different niches, so I
question if one would displace the other. It is easy to jump to a
conclusion that the immigration of a close relative species of one
organism or another was responsible for the demise of the native
relative. Unless they occupy a very similar niche, I imagine it is more
often the case that the same forces (human and corporate) that are
altering the physical and biotic landscape are responsible for both the
immigration of one relative and the demise of the other. That said,
even if 2 relatives occupy very different niches, they may harbor
co-adpted parasites and diseases which the immigrant has already come to
an equilibrium with.
--
-Stewart
Stewart Wechsler Ecological Consultant
Nature Guide
Local Native Plant Expert
West Seattle 206 932-7225