I don't live too far from Tom on Mt. Tabor and while there are two or three
House Finches that come in to the feeders it is nothing as in prior years. As
Tom noted, they were one of the most numerous feeder birds and now there are
very few and they do not show up every day from what I have seen. The decline
in House Finch numbers also coincides with a severe drop in House Sparrow
numbers (as in zero) and Starling numbers (almost none). I don't know if that
is a coincidence or if it is related. I can't say I miss the House Sparrows and
Starlings.
Gerard Lillie
Portland, OR
________________________________
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Tom
McNamara <tmcmac67@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 1:40 PM
To: sandyleapt@xxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: obol
Subject: [obol] Re: Female Cassin's Finch
Hi Birders,
Like Sandy's experience, there has been an absolute dearth (i.e. none) of House
Finches at our feeders. Past years they were among the most numerous birds.
Tom
On Tue, Jan 17, 2017 at 6:45 PM,
<sandyleapt@xxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:sandyleapt@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi All,
Finding myself semi-house bound in Northeast Portland I have been amusing
myself by feeding, watching and trying to count the birds in my garden. I was
trying to sort and count Song and other Sparrows when I noticed a bird with a
raised crest. I started comparing the bird to a Song Sparrow, which is what I
was expecting to see, and noticed the differences in color and pattern on the
bird's face (from the side). The next thing I noticed was the sharp dark and
white stripes/streaks on the breast, side, and flank of the bird.
I grabbed for the camera and the bird flew. Hasn't made another appearance
today. I did get out my bird books and found the female Cassin's Finch
pictured in the National Audubon Society's Field Guide to Birds - Western
Region visually matches the finch I saw today.
Other pleasant surprises this week: one Hermit Thrush, one Fox Sparrow and at
least one Golden-Crowned Sparrow.
I am enjoying the opportunity to watch four species of sparrows interact and
trying to sort out the backyard bird pecking order. I think it goes Stellar
Jay, Northern Flicker, Starling, Western Scrub Jay, Spotted Towhee, Fox
Sparrow, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow, Junco. Downy Woodpecker shows up when
all the other birds are in another part of the garden as does the Hermit
Thrush. The Black-capped Chickadee and Bush-tits just do their own thing
paying no attention to the other birds. All the birds show up when a Robin
comes by and starts knocking berries off the Euonymus bush. Robins are very
messy feeders.
One odd thing, there should be House Finches in the garden, I don't think I've
seen any this winter.
Cheers,
Sandy Leaptrott
NE Portland
