Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus), Sierra Pinta Mountains, Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Yuma County

This Purple Finch was found and photographed by Joe Veverka on 07 January 2015

Purple Finch is a casual transient and winter visitor with only five records since 2003, when it was reinstated on the review list. This is a flight year for Purple Finch in the California deserts and there are two prior pending reports from this fall/winter.

This finch is readily told from a House Finch by the strong face pattern. The best characters to separate this bird from a female Cassin's Finch are the overall greenish color, rounded culmen, short primary projection and blurry breast streaking. Also note the pale arc under the eye and lack of an eyering. The olive tones to the upperparts including wing bars, and the long blurry flank streaking identify this as the western subspecies californicus.

07 January 2015, photo by Joe Veverka

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