My husband and I live in an old farmhouse which still has awnings over the windows.
These awnings are favored by the house finch. In total there are five house finch nests in our awnings plus one in my hanging basket.
To my amusement, as much as we use the bathroom, the female in the bathroom awning tries to sit on the nest as much as she can but the male wants nothing to do with me.
Most of them are so terrified that if I even get close to the window, they fly off.
Do not disturb
Over the years, I have enjoyed watching them to the point my husband thinks I am crazy for not turning on the light when I go into the bathroom because I try not to disturb them when I see the mom there.
Little did I know, until I did the research to write this article, that the house finch originates from the southwestern part of the U.S.
They were introduced in New York City in 1940 when a pet shop sold them illegally and released their birds to escape prosecution.
These finches began to colonize across the continent and displaced the purple finch in Ohio. The purple finch is now listed as a Species of Special Interest in Ohio.
Songbird
So, the house finch is a small songbird about the size of the house sparrow with a large beak, short wings, and a long, notched tail.
The adult male is red around the face and upper breast with streaky brown back, belly, and tail.
The adult female have no red pigmentation and are brown overall with streaks down the belly.
I am going to describe my hanging basket house finch nest. I am not sure what brood number this pair is on, but I know the one in my bathroom window is building nest No. 3 and they typically can go up to three broods.
The first brood of the one in the bathroom only had one egg so she moved on a little quicker to No. 2.
Nest
This finch pair in my hanging basket has laid six white eggs that are black speckled in a nest that is four inches in diameter and made of grass stems. The first egg was laid June 3 and the last egg was laid June 8. The first hatching was June 16 and the last one hatched June 21.
It is said that the nesting period is 12-15 days, so I started monitoring the nest again June 27 and only noticed five chicks in the nest; I wondered what happened to one?
The first one out of the five fledged July 3 and all of them were fledged by July 6.
Feeding
Both parents feed the nestlings and the male will bring food to the adult female. The male regurgitates the food and puts it into her mouth.
This is a way the male woos the female. Probably, you and I can both agree that this activity doesn’t sound very attractive.
The finches feed mainly on the ground or at feeders and fruit trees. They like to eat seeds, buds, and fruits including mustard seeds, knotweed, thistle, mulberry, cherries, peaches, pears, plums, strawberries, blackberries, black oil sunflower, millet, and milo.
Bird call
The calls of the house finch are a sharp cheep made often while perched or during flight.
The song of the male is a long, jumbled warbling of short notes. The females give a shorter, simpler version.
Even though they did not originate in Ohio and non-intentionally displaced the purple finch, I still like to watch these little creatures as they build a nest and care for their young.
Like all wildlife, these little guys have a job to do; survive, mate, and take care of their young.
STAY INFORMED. SIGN UP!
Up-to-date agriculture news in your inbox!
