April 13 House Finch Antics

In 15 minutes this afternoon at Centennial Gardens on the UW campus, I saw a red-tailed hawk kill and eat a frog, a dozen flowering plants, a house sparrow chase a male cardinal off of its territory, flowering crabapples, and some wacky house finches. Two males finches (Haemorhouse mexicanus) were fluffing feathers, dancing around, and chasing two females who seemed irritated by the attention. The males' head and chest are the reddest they will be all year, and apparently brighten up in spring according to how much red pigment is in the food they eat while their feathers molt. So the female's preference for the brightest males is actually based on how well they can provide food for themselves and the coming offspring. An important consideration in all relationships, I'm sure. House Finches at one time only lived in western scrublands, deserts, and dry conifer forests. In 1940 a few were let go on Long Island and now they live in seemingly on every street in North America. So they are not technically invasive to North America, but their abundance in the east reflects the incredible landscape transformation humans have made just since 1940. The transformation continues and the house finches are happy to brighten up our gardens with their buzzing little red heads.