What’s In My Backyard?

Meet the Neighbors: House Finch

For the introduction to this series, see here.

Meet the house finch, one of the most common birds in urban areas. The males have red faces and crests. The red color comes from a compound in their food called carotenoids; these are the same compounds that produce the orange color in carrots! The more carotenoids they eat, the brighter red they are. The diet of the house finch is mostly vegetarian. They will occasionally eat insects but 97 percent of their diet is seeds. They like to nest on porches; we have a nest of house finches on our back porch every year. Sometimes they even nest in hanging plant baskets. Go outside and see how many house finches you can find in your neighborhood.