Our friends have come back

[Aggie_Ama]

I think I will email my husband's stepmom and my aunt, they are birders and local but I guess finch fits his size/build. I have never seen the males before, he is pretty! I filled up the bath yesterday since I noticed it was low and dirty. I guess they are using it but I haven't seen any birds in it yet. He is probably common but he is our buddy so I like him. My husband's grandma has a smorgasbord of birds- hummingbirds, mockingbirds, martens, cardinals, jays. But she actually feeds them, we just let them roost.

[7rider]

Tell your DH I have a degree in Fisheries, too! No excuse! A field guide is a field guide, be it birds or fish. Pick one up...a fun way to pass time. Or, check out the best one on the 'net: Cornell's All About Birds Bird Guide.

Here's the house finch.

Here's the purple finch for comparison.

Here's the barn swallow.

I love birds....

[Aggie_Ama]

Tell your DH I have a degree in Fisheries, too! No excuse!

And he is selling plants! I have to drag him away from plants on vacation. We got back from NM and California and were looking at pictures, my mom was like "Why do you have so many pictures of plants?"

And obviously my friends are house finches. He looks just like the link you posted and the girl looks like the female.

Mudmucker- I actually live on the edge of the House and Purple finch are in central Texas but he is a scarlet color, not raspberry. The link 7 posted looks like a raspberry color too. I think I would like to put up a feeder, maybe DH would go along with it he did agree to the bath and my bird/butterfly plants.

[mudmucker]

Texas has a wonderful assortment of birds - more than in MA. Right about now is the perfect time to be looking out for them. They'll be hanging out in their springtime breeding plumage, all bright and colorful.

I know up here in New England we all wait for the annual warbler migration. Their travel corridor is along the coast and it'll be about 3 weeks in May here in MA where they'll start to show up. Mt. Auburn Cemetery is a historic botanical cemetery in Cambridge, and happens to be one of the most popular warbler spots in the state because it is a very expansive green area along the coast. They fly at night and drop in, in the very early morning and if you're there at the right morning at 6 am there are hundreds of bright colorful warblers in trees, so many it seems like there are Christmas ornaments in the trees.

There are many places like that in Texas. Get a feeder, get a book. It's fun. You won't get warblers or other insect feeding birds at the feeder - only seed eaters but you got plenty of those too. But don't forget to look high in the trees. Your insect feeders will be hovering for food in the trees.

[Aggie_Ama]

I actually live right by the protected area where the Golden Cheek Warbler lives. There is a great hiking trail you can supposedly get a good look at them. And Bald eagles nest down the road a piece. I haven't seen either yet.

Unfortunately my house sits on what was once ranch land, it is just cleared of cedar so no tall trees. I need to get a book before I head back to Ft. Davis, they had tons of neat birds out there! And the coast is good for birding but we always go in the summer when they have left because it is so hot, never the bird months. Go figure.

[bmccasland]

Hard to tell from the photo, but I'll go with the Purple / House Finch, leaning towards the House Finch. Both have a nice song.

As for bird books - I'd recommend the Sibley guides. He's a terrific illustrator, has flight, perched, side, front poses of all birds, so it's easier to compare birds. Probably the best thing is to get to a good bookstore or nature center that has multiple bird books and compare one type to the next. There are several out there, from the classic Peterson, or Golden Guide (is it still published?), National Geographic, to the more recent Sibley, and some others. The only ones I don't really like are the ones with photographs, you just don't see everything you need to with a photo, where an artist/illustrator works to capture all the little bits. It also helps to have range maps, descriptions, and art work all on the same/facing pages. Peterson actually insisted his range maps be in the back because he wanted you to look at and listen to the bird, not concentrate on some map - long ago I heard the man talk and he answered a question about his book format.

[salsabike]

Listen up when that house finch sings. They have the MOST delightful spring songs. Here, it's a sort of long babbling twittering song that ends in a three-note trill. We love it.