Tn.Birders.... I have had purple finches all winter but like most everyone else, the last two weeks I have had an influx of them. Today I had a partial albino finch among them, but I'm not quite sure it was a purple. The tail and primary feathers were very white, the rest of the body was ivory with a trace of darker ivory stripes on the upper breast and very faint stripes on the head, neck and upper back. The beak was pinkish ivory and the eye was black. The beak didn't seem quite as thick at the base as a finch, although at one point, while being harassed, it raised a slight crest of feathers, which is characteristic of a purple finch. During the last part of Feb., I had two purple finches and two goldfinches with finch eye disease, but none at the same time. Robbie Hassler. Byrdstown, TN.--Pickett Co. =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================