Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus), Rotary Park, Lake Havasu City, Mohave County

These Purple Finches were found and photographed by David Vander Pluym on 19 October (first individual and photo) and 29 October 2015 (at least three new individuals, last three photos).

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

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. On the male note the even reddish color throughout, the face pattern and blurry flank streaks. The olive tones to the upperparts including wing bars, and the long blurry flank streaking identify this as the western subspecies californicus.

19 October 2015, photo by David Vander Pluym

 

29 October 2015, photo by David Vander Pluym

All photos are copyrighted© by photographer