House Finches - Red and Yellow

You are what you eat!

House Finches eat many kinds of seeds and fruits. A careful look at male House Finches at a feeder shows that, while most males show red feathering, some are decidedly more orange - and some even yellow. House Finches acquire their coloration from pigments known as carotenoids in the foods they eat.

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BirdNote^®

House Finches Red and Yellow

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote!
[Song of House Finch]
The sweet, jumbled song of a House Finch is a familiar sound across much of the country.
[Song of House Finch]
House Finches eat many kinds of seeds and fruits. They readily flock to backyard feeders, and their short, thick bills are perfectly designed for hulling sunflower seeds at a brisk pace. Female House Finches are brown and heavily streaked overall, while males typically sport a red rump, breast, and headband.
[House Finch call notes]
But a careful look at male House Finches at the feeder shows that, while most males show red feathering, some are decidedly more orange – and some even yellow. It turns out that House Finches acquire their coloration from pigments in the plant foods they eat. This is true for most birds with red-, orange-, or yellow-pigmented feathers. These tones each derive from a different organic pigment, known as carotenoids. So that yellow male House Finch standing out from all the red ones? Well, his attire reflects something he ate – or didn’t eat.
[Song of House Finch]
You can listen again to this episode of BirdNote – or any other – even subscribe to the podcast. Begin at our website, BirdNote.org. I’m Mary McCann.
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Song and call of the House Finch provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by G.A. Keller
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2012 Tune In to Nature.org April 2012 Narrator: Mary McCann

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