Purple Finch

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Purple Finch

The Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus, is a small finch

Finch

Finches are passerine birds, often seed-eating, found mainly in the northern hemisphere and Africa. One subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics. The family scientific name Fringillidae comes from the Latin word "fringilla", meaning chaffinch, a member of this family that is common in Europe....
of the Rosefinch

Rosefinch

The rosefinches are birds in the finch family Fringillidae. Most Carpodacus species are so named, but three common North American ones are not....
genus.
Purple Finch is one of 24 birds in the genus

Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
Carpodacus and is included in the finch family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
, Fringillidae, which is made up of passerine

Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
bird

Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s found in northern hemisphere and Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
. The Purple Finch was originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin

Johann Friedrich Gmelin

Johann Friedrich Gmelin was a Germany natural history, botanist and entomologist....
in 1789.

There are two subspecies of the Purple Finch, C.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Purple Finch'

Start a new discussion about 'Purple Finch'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

The Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus, is a small finch
Finch

Finches are passerine birds, often seed-eating, found mainly in the northern hemisphere and Africa. One subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics. The family scientific name Fringillidae comes from the Latin word "fringilla", meaning chaffinch, a member of this family that is common in Europe....
of the Rosefinch
Rosefinch

The rosefinches are birds in the finch family Fringillidae. Most Carpodacus species are so named, but three common North American ones are not....
genus.
Taxonomy
The Purple Finch is one of 24 birds in the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
Carpodacus and is included in the finch family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
, Fringillidae, which is made up of passerine
Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s found in northern hemisphere and Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
. The Purple Finch was originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin
Johann Friedrich Gmelin

Johann Friedrich Gmelin was a Germany natural history, botanist and entomologist....
in 1789.

There are two subspecies of the Purple Finch, C. p. purpureus and C. p. californicus. C. p. californicus was identified by Spencer F. Baird in 1858. It differs from the nominate subspecies in that it has a longer tail and shorter wing. The plumage
Plumage

Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season....
of both males and females are darker, and the coloration of the females is more greenish. The bill of C. p. californicus is also longer than that of the nominate subspecies.

Description
Adults have a short forked brown tail and brown wings and are about 15 cm (4 in) in length and weigh 34 g (1.2 oz). Adult males are raspberry
Raspberry

The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the subgenus Rubus#Scientific classification of the genus Rubus; the name also applies to these plants themselves....
red on the head, breast, back and rump; their back is streaked. Adult females have light brown upperparts and white underparts with dark brown streaks throughout; they have a white line on the face above the eye.

Habitat and distribution
Their breeding habitat is coniferous and mixed forest in Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
and the northeastern United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, as well as various wooded areas along the U.S. Pacific coast. They nest on a horizontal branch or in a fork of a tree.

Birds from northern Canada migrate
Bird migration

Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather....
to the southern United States; other birds are permanent residents.

The Purple Finch population has declined sharply in the East due to the House Finch
House Finch

The House Finch is a medium-sized finch of the Rosefinch genus....
. Most of the time, when these two species collide, the House Finch outcompetes the Purple Finch.

This bird has been also displaced from some habitat by the introduced House Sparrow
House Sparrow

The House Sparrow is a member of the Old World sparrow family sparrow, considered by some to be a relative of the Weaver Finch Family. It occurs naturally in most of Europe and much of Asia....
.

Behavior

Diet
These birds forage in trees and bushes, sometimes in ground vegetation. They mainly eat seeds, berries and insects. They are fond of sunflower seeds, millet,and thistle.

Cultural depictions
This is the state bird of New Hampshire
New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a U.S. state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States of America. The state was named after the southern English Counties of England of Hampshire....
.