Along
with purple finch, housefinch and Cassin's Finch,
the common rose finch compose their own genus within
the subfamily
of the carduelian .
The
common rose finch male displays a beautiful carmine red on the breast
and lower back. Size: 15 cm weight: 21 gram. The wings are dark brown
with two indistinct bars. The belly is white. The female is predominantly
Olive brown with dark stripes and light belly.Youngsters of the c. rose
finch a similarly coloured and marked. The young male wear in the first
year a summer plummage, so they did not have any tinges of pink/red at
all. The plummage is more warm buff, but the wing bars were very definately
grey and well marked. It was initially identified by its call, which is
a very flute like 'pleased to meet you'.
The
habitat of this pleasant species is the north east coastal area of europe,
primarily however, central and north asia. In Mecklenburg and Rügen
(Western Pomerania) are the primary breeding grounds. In west Germany
and Switzerland the rose finch is occasionally seen. Wetlands and dense
grassland must be present.
His
movements are similar to the bullfinch. His call is mainly loud whistles
and twitters with pleasant trills like an oriole.
Breeding:
Breeds in scrubby
areas, often near water.
A sporadic breeding bird, which occurs more familiarly as a scarce spring
and autumn migrant, mostly on the east coast. Usually, up to 40 birds
are found in the spring, with up to 75 in the autumn. The best sites for
migrant birds are undoubtedly the Northern Isles, although the east coast
sites such as Flamborough, Spurn and the Farne Islands annually attract
them.
A very common bird in much of Poland and southern Finland, this bird is
spreading westwards and has already reached Holland, Belgium and parts
of northern France, though as yet in relatively small numbers. They are
now well-established for example on the Dutch Wadden Islands.
Purple
Finch Carpodacus purpureus
Status Fairly common in summer, uncommon in winter. Breeds. Spring birds
generally appear in April (average 11 April, earliest 14 March; appearances
in February and early March may represent locally wintering birds). Large
arrivals may occur through April and into May. In summer Purple Finches
may be found almost anywhere but particularly in coniferous, especially
spruce, woodlands. Main fall movements occur in September and October,
after which the birds appear intermittently at feeding stations. During
autumn they also eat wild berries and are especially fond of the multiflora
rose.
Description Length: 14-16 cm. Adult male: Head, back and
breast rose red, brighter on rump; wings and tail dark brown, feathers
edged with red; lower breast paler red, shading to white on belly. (This
plumage is not acquired until the male is about two years old.) Adult
female: Upperparts light olive-brown, streaked with dark brown; underparts
white, boldly streaked with dark olive-brown, shading to white on belly.
Breeding Nest: Composed of twigs and grass stems, rough
exteriorly, lined variously with hair, fine rootlets, beard lichen when
available, and occasionally wool from a sheep; usually placed near the
top of a small or medium-sized spruce or fir in open woodland, sometimes
so high as to be among the cone-bearing branchlets. Rarely it nests in
deciduous trees, the nest saddled on a horizontal branch; apple trees
in an orchard have been the only kind of deciduous tree used by this finch
for nesting that I have noted.
Eggs: 4-6, usually 5; blue, spotted sparsely about the
larger end with black. These birds are rather late nesters, normally not
laying until late May. Nest construction was noted on 12 May at Wolfville,
and the earliest date for a complete set of fresh eggs is 30 May 1914.
Of 13 nests examined, 7 contained five eggs, 5 contained four, and 1 held
a set of six. The latest date for a set of first laying is 17 June 1913,
the eggs slightly incubated. A nest discovered on Wolfville Ridge on 31
May 1915 contained five fresh eggs and was attended by what appeared to
be two protesting females; it was later learned that one of them was a
male in subadult plumage, an indication that first-year males breed.
Range Breeds from northern British Columbia, northern
Alberta, central Manitoba, southern Quebec, and Newfoundland, south to
northern New Jersey, central Minnesota, southern Alberta and along the
Pacific coast to Baja California. Winters from Nova Scotia, southern Ontario
and southern British Columbia to the southern United States.
Remarks The male Purple Finch's song and bright red plumage
are notable characteristics. The name "Purple" is a misnomer,
for the male is rose-coloured. His song in its fullness is a rich, rapidly
enunciated, loud ecstatic warble, sometimes poured out in a torrent of
melody as he hovers on outspread trembling wings. I heard one male attempt
to sing very early in spring, but its tremulous, feeble rendition bore
little resemblance to the song just described.
At nesting time some bird species show a preference for
locations close to human habitation—Tree Swallows and Yellow Warblers,
for instance—but others have a strong opposite preference. The Purple
Finch is quite impartial in this regard, building its nest just as often
in our gardens as in remote forested areas.
There is little justification
for confusing the male of this species with any of our other birds, except
possibly the House Finch, but the female is a different matter. She is
a heavily striped, grayish brown, sparrow-sized bird with a conspicuous
whitish line extending back from above her eye.
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