House Finch
The house finch is a small passerine bird that is part of the family Fringillidae. They are generally seen hanging onto the food source their eating from, perched, or scavenging the ground for food.
General Characteristics of Finches
The birds are rarely seen walking. They are known for their hopping abilities, they will place both feet together and hop from location to location.
The birds are hardy cold-weather birds that may be seen in flocks foraging for food in fields, valleys, and woodlands.
General Information
| Name:: | House Finch |
| Scientific Name:: | Haemorhous mexicanus |
| Family: | Fringillidae |
| Size: | 5 to 7 inches |
| Habitat: | Urban and suburban throughout North America |
| Diet: | Grains, seeds, berries, vegetation, small insects (see list below) |
• The birds have rounder heads
• Forked or notched tails
• Conical bills for seed crushing
• They sing beautiful songs
Male House Finch
- Bright red on forehead, throat, and breast
- Brown wings and back
- Brown streaking on flanks
- Thick grayish bill
Female House Finch
- Brown and streaked with brown and white
- Thick grayish bill
Finch Feeders
Add To Feeder Trays
| Fruit (List below) | Leafy Greens (List below) |
| Salt Blocks | Grape Jelly |
| Vegetables | Crushed Eggshells (In spring) |
Seed to Purchase
Additional Posts:
What is safflower seed?
Save those seeds
Simple tray feeders
Feed Them Leafy Greens
Dandelion greens
Romaine lettuce
Spring mixes
Spinach
Parsley
Cilantro
Mustard greens
Collard greens
When feeding any of the choices be sure the greens are washed and free of pesticides. If picking dandelion greens from your yard make sure you are not using broad-based weed killer to treat your lawn.
Eggshells Provide Birds With Calcium
Calcium for birds is the same as humans, it builds strong bones.
Many birds get enough natural sources during times when plant matter is in heavy growth. A strong exception to this rule is during the nesting season.
Egg-laying females need extra calcium to help form strong eggshells when they are busy building nests and doing double duty.
I provide extra calcium for the females – being a female myself and all, I can relate 🙂
Additional Post: Eggshell Suet Recipe
Finch Love An Assortment Of Fruit
Apples
Pears
Grapes
Pumpkin
Peaches
To Serve Fruit
1.) Cut the fruits into small, bite-sized pieces
2.) Add only add a handful at a time to keep them from overeating
3.) You want to keep the balance in check for a 75% seed to 25% fruit ratio.
Like us, some birds will choose more fruits and over-indulge. You want to keep a healthy balance at your feeders.
Additional Post: Dry Fruit For The Birds
Provide A Salt Block
Salt is a mineral that birds, deer, squirrels, rabbits, and a few additional animals need to properly break down food into their diet. An animal will search out a salt block when it is lacking the element in their diet.
Salt helps animals break down seeds and food so that they can digest their food more easily.
It is not necessary to provide one – but it is nice to offer them one on occasion.
Nectar
It is not uncommon to see a house finch sipping nectar from a hummingbird feeder.
During the winter months, they actively seek out maple trees and will snack on the sap.
Sharing Is Caring – Pin Me
Nesting Info
| Habitat: | Hanging plants, openings in buildings, and other cup-shaped outdoor decorations. |
| Nest Shape: | Cup shape using twigs and debris |
| Eggs: | 3-6 blue-ish to a greenish-white with black speckled spots on the large end of the egg |
| Incubation: | 12-14 days |
| Fledging: | 11-19 days after hatching |
General Nesting Information
The birds will seek out a location they believe to be safe from predators and will nest in old bird nests if you leave them up from year to year. Nests are built by the female and normally cup-shaped made from grass, sticks, and feathers. The birds will nest in anything from your hanging planter to old animal homes in hollowed-out trees.
Female house finches will lay between 3-6 eggs. The eggs range from a blue-ish coloring to a greenish-white with black speckled spots on the large end of the egg.
The female will sit on the nest until the eggs hatch, during this time the male will feed her. After the chicks hatch both parents feed the chicks. The chick diet is made up of 100% plant matter.
In Wisconsin, the house finch will lay her eggs between March and August.
A house finch couple will successfully raise up to three broods a year.
They can try for additional broods, but for the most part, they are only successful in three attempts a year.
Raising Young
The female will sit on the nest until the eggs hatch and then stay a few days in the nest with the young.
During the first few days, the male will bring food to the mother and the mother will feed regurgitated food to the young.
After the first few days, the mother will join the father in the hunt for food.
If you want to please mommy and daddy house finch, leave plenty of plant-based, pesticide-free food at your feeders during the time they are raising their young.
I had no clue that house finches fed their young an all-vegetarian diet to their young until they nested in my hanging basket on my deck last year. Right next to their “new” basket home was the planting containers I grew my parsley, a variety of lettuce, spinach, cilantro, and collard greens. Daddy didn’t have to go far each morning to get the kids fed. He had a wealth of choices directly under the nest. SMARTY PANTS!
How Long Do The Young Stay?
The young leave the nest after about 13-16 days.
Dad may still feed them for a few weeks after leaving.
It is not uncommon to see the babies hopping around in the yard a few days after leaving the nest.
Because of the heavy growth of conifers around our home – it never fails that I lose at least one hanging basket a year to raising a family of finches. Last year I closely followed a family and mommy and daddy were comfortable with me checking in every few days. It was a fun bird watching year.
Additional Posts
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