Tag: Phoenix

House finch (Haemorhous mexicanus

♂) on budding ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens). 

As it’s specific name suggests, the house finch is a western species. It is now endemic in the east, though all eastern house finches are descended from birds released on Long Island, New York in 1940. 

The color of male birds is dependent on diet. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds website notes:

“The red of a male house finch comes from pigments contained in its food during molt (birds can’t make bright red or yellow colors directly). So the more pigment in the food, the redder the male. This is why people sometimes see orange or yellowish male house finches. Females prefer to mate with the reddest male they can find, perhaps raising the chances they get a capable mate who can do his part in feeding the nestlings.”

House finch (Haemorhous mexicanus

♂) on budding ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens). 

As it’s specific name suggests, the house finch is a western species. It is now endemic in the east, though all eastern house finches are descended from birds released on Long Island, New York in 1940. 

The color of male birds is dependent on diet. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds website notes:

“The red of a male house finch comes from pigments contained in its food during molt (birds can’t make bright red or yellow colors directly). So the more pigment in the food, the redder the male. This is why people sometimes see orange or yellowish male house finches. Females prefer to mate with the reddest male they can find, perhaps raising the chances they get a capable mate who can do his part in feeding the nestlings.”