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House Finch.


House Finch.
Photo Information
Copyright: Luis Leal (Luis52) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1015 W: 5 N: 2759] (10010)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-04-13
Categories: Birds
Camera: Nikon D80, 80-200 f2.8D ED AF Nikkor+1.5X Kenko
Exposure: f/4, 1/400 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-04-13 19:57
Viewed: 621
Points: 74
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
House Finch (Female)

The House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) is a medium-sized finch of the Rosefinch genus. Adults have a long brown tail and are a brown or dull-brown color across the back with some shading into deep grey on the wing feathers. Breast and belly feathers may be streaked. In most cases, adult males have a reddish color to their heads, necks and shoulders. This color sometimes extends to the stomach and down the back, between the wings. The male coloration varies in intensity with the seasons and is derived from the berries and fruits in its diet. As a result, the colors range from pale, straw yellow, to bright orange, to deep, intense red. Adult females have brown upperparts and streaked underparts.

These birds are mainly permanent residents; some eastern birds migrate south. Their breeding habitat is urban and semi-open areas from southern Canada to Mexico.

The House Finch forages on the ground or in vegetation. They primarily eat grains, seeds and berries, being voracious consumers of weed seeds such as nettle and dandelion; included are incidental small insects, such as aphids and plant lice. They are frequent visitors to feeders throughout the year, particularly if stocked with sunflower seeds or Nyjer/thistle seed, and will congregate at hanging Nyjer sock feeders. The house finch is known to damage orchard fruit and consume commercially grown grain, but is generally not considered a significant pest, rather an annoyance.

Nests are made in cavities, including openings in buildings, and also on various kinds of vegetation; sometimes nests abandoned by other birds will be used. Nests may be re-used for subsequent broods or in following years. The nest is built by the female, sometimes in as little as two days. It is well made of twigs and debris, forming a cup shape, usually 1.5m to 2m above the ground.

Eggs are laid from February through August, two or more broods per year with 2 to 6 eggs per brood. The eggs are a pale, bluish-green with few black spots and a smooth, somewhat glossy surface. The female incubates the eggs for 12 to 14 days and the young leave the nest about 11 to 19 days after hatching. Dandelion seeds are among the preferred seeds fed to the young.


During courtship, the male may present the female with choice bits of food and, if she imitates the posture of a hungry chick, he may actually feed her. The male may also feed the female during the breeding and incubation period.

House Finches are one of the few birds that are aggressive enough to keep House Sparrows out of their birdhouse and evict them.

Originally only a resident of Mexico and the southwestern United States, they were introduced to eastern North America in the 1940s. The birds were being sold illegally in New York while marketed as the "Hollywood Finch." Many vendors and owners released the birds into the wild in order to avoid prosecution. The released birds spread rapidly and, in some unforested areas, have displaced the native Purple Finch. In 1870, they were introduced into Hawaii.

Saludos
Luis52.
eqshannon, SelenE, matatur, SueThomson, earthtraveler, mirceax, goldyrs, CeltickRanger, marhowie, jaycee, izler, mariki, Necipp, gannu, Tamrock, Proframe, gracious, MMM, spalaxtr, Argus, NinaM, Adanac, Alex99 has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To jignasi: Muchas Gracias.Luis52 1 04-15 15:52
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Critiques [Translate]

wonderfull capture;-) very nice color and deep sharpness.

hello luis,
fine capture of the house finch, liked the beautiful colours and excellent dof, nice composition,
well done,
tfs & regards
pankaj

Even better than the last which was better than the one before!!! You are really gaining some confidence and understanding in your work...Super image Luis!
Bob

  • Great 
  • demeve Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 508 W: 8 N: 1077] (3976)
  • [2008-04-13 22:22]

Hola Luis,

Que linda foto grafia, muy bien compuesta y com excelente
nitidez.. Felicitaciones

Everton

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1218 W: 0 N: 4657] (13840)
  • [2008-04-13 22:44]

Hola Luis

Lovely composition - great pose on the finch plus lovely details and colours.

TFS

James

Bellissima composizione, ottimo POV, molto buona la definizione emeravigliosi colori e BG. Grazie e complimenti. Ciao Maurizio

  • Great 
  • SelenE Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2308 W: 59 N: 3689] (11822)
  • [2008-04-14 0:22]

Hola Luis,
Details, composition, colors and POV are very nice. Gracias y saludos
Selen

A perfect composition on the feeding ecology of a house finch Luis, as usual captured perfectly in fine focus to display the plumage characteristics and colours of the bird against a contrasty, OOF BG. Well done indeed amigo!
Mehmet

Hi Luis

What a lovely photo of this little fellow. The lovely contrast of the branch really helps make this photo great. Excellent sharpness!
Cheers
Sue

Hola Luis,
Muy bella imagen. Usted manejó los detalles excelentes del plumaje de este pájaro. Actitud muy agradable también en la flor hermosa.
Tfs mi amigo. Richard

  • Great 
  • Mana Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1683 W: 24 N: 4905] (15988)
  • [2008-04-14 4:03]

Hi Luis,
Wonderful shot of this House Finch and I must say the colourful flowers give the image an edge. Very neat and sharp image with lovely colours and details. Great illumination and perfectly exposed. Nice pose of the bird captured here with fine DOF and a well chosen POV. Superb composition. Kudos.
TFS.
Sumon

Hi Luis

In this I like the colourful flower, what is it? its beautiful.
Great composition and sharpness.

Chris

Hi Luis,
Beautiful capture with super composition et details.The colours are great too.
tfs
Mircea

Luis,
This is a very beautiful capture, my friend.
Very well done!
Cheers!
Goldy

hello Luis

this is a lovely capture with the wonderful colours
of the foreground and the background of the image,
fine POV and framing, excellent DOF, i love the bird's pose,
you chooted the image at the good moment because
that litlle pose it gives great dynamism to the image, TFS

Asbed

Hello Luis,
Very beautiful photo of this Finch. Great sharp focus and lovely colours. Special, excellent composition. Very good POV, DOF and OOF BG.
Regards,
Peter

Hi Jose,
You've really dressed her up well here.
Her subtle beauty is well complimented with this interesting & colorful plant. Excellent pose, POV, DOF, exposure, sharp detail, and of course colors :)
Very well done mf,
Howard

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1691 W: 8 N: 4340] (14113)
  • [2008-04-14 9:13]

Hi Cousin,

A lovely little finch - looks like the yellow variation. I don't blame him for admiring that plant - it's beautiful with wonderful colors. You show the bird in a great pose, with fine details and nice natural colors.

Jane

  • Great 
  • mariki Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 897 W: 65 N: 1764] (7577)
  • [2008-04-14 10:16]

Hello Luis,

Very beautiful well-composed picture. Good sharpness. I like very much the pose of the bird and the colours of the plant.
Well done,
Cheers,
Mariki

Hello Luis I think the flower is as beautiful as the bird and what a fine pose it gave you. Lovely wide composition. Amazing colours, Excellent sharp details also tfs rgds Necip

hi luis!
very fine pic with nice colours
and good composition!
good work!

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1904 W: 4 N: 5177] (19726)
  • [2008-04-14 12:31]

Hi . Have just got home so can only mark this good picture for now.

Nick..

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1589 W: 242 N: 5308] (18683)
  • [2008-04-14 14:43]

Lovely shot, Luis!
This bird has perched on a beautiful plant that compliments it perfectly!
Very, very sharp with excellent clarity.
Superb focusing and a great DOF.
Exceptional work!!
TFS!

Joe

  • Great 
  • chiliu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1549 W: 0 N: 1158] (6414)
  • [2008-04-14 16:43]

Hi Luis,
Very beautiful capture! Excellent detail and great colours!
Chi

Hola Luis,

Great composition with most wonderful pose of th bird and contrast between the duller tones of the bird and the colors of the flower.
Excellent DOF and exposure.
Love the soft BG color tones, against which the bird and the flower do stand out perfectly, very much.
Great work and perfect note. TFS!!!

Warmest regards, Harry

Hello Luis,
Nice capture, good composition, point of view and pose, very good sharpness and depth of field, lovely colors and light.
Angela

Hola my dear friend Luis,
I loved this shot!!
the plant is colourful and with a great pose of the finch!
the image is so sharp with very fine details also a good notes
muchas gracias
Saludos
Tony

  • Great 
  • MMM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 737 W: 0 N: 1497] (6754)
  • [2008-04-15 7:21]

Hi Luis
Nice composition,sjarp image and good detail.I like hte pose of your subject.
TFS Michel

Hi Luis,
Nice capture of the bird that I never seen before, liked the details and beautiful colours. Composition and DOF also very good.
Kind regards.
Mustafa

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2008-04-15 7:53]

Hello Luis

What a beautiful flower ,it makes a wonderful perch for this house finch.
The lighting and colours are excellent.
Sharp focus adnd details.
The shot is well composed.
Excellent plumage detail there are some colours in the feathers I did not realize they had before.
TFS

Rob

  • Great 
  • gannu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 847 W: 4 N: 2096] (9830)
  • [2008-04-15 10:04]

hello Luis, What a sharp image and great focus. Lovely eye catch and good compo. Ganesh smiely tmrw

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2500 W: 132 N: 7109] (22209)
  • [2008-04-15 12:15]

Hola Sr. Luis,
A fine and unusual capture of a female House Finch. I like the pose, POV and compositin on the flowering stem against a good neutral BG. A beautiful image and thanks for sharing it!
Un abrazo,
Su amigo,
Ivan

Eres muy bueno con la cámara Luis ( no soy pelotas jajaja) Cada día me sorprendes más con tus maravillas y es de agradecer que buenos fotógrafos como tú se fijen alguna vez en tomas sencillas como las mías.
En esta destacaría que a pesar de la potente y cegadora luz, el ave queda plasmada sin exceso de esta, con un color muy natural, no se como lo consigues.
Por otra parte y como de costumbre aunque esta vez más acentuado, el conjunto es encantador y es de agradecer conocer parte del hábitat del pajarillo, lo que demuestra que no todo es ampliación; hay otras cosas igual de importantes.
Un abrazo: Josep Ignasi Tejedor

Pd.- Josep Ignasi es José Ignacio, pero en Catalán, que es mi lengua cotidiana aunque no es mi lengua materna.

  • Great 
  • Adanac Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1036 W: 1 N: 3970] (13366)
  • [2008-04-15 20:45]

Hola Luis,
Incredibly beautiful image, not only is the bird sharp and very well detailed but the plant is wonderful as well. Luis can I ask what the plant is? Thank you for the well wishes for Lucy, she is resting, hopefully she will get over this bump in the road. Thank you for this wonderful piece of work my friend.
Rick

  • Great 
  • izler Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1247 W: 78 N: 857] (7494)
  • [2008-04-16 9:04]

hello Luis
well composed of this cute bird with nice pose
i like POV, colours, sharpness and details
TFS
regards
izler

  • Great 
  • NinaM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 545 W: 0 N: 1338] (4443)
  • [2008-04-16 14:56]

Hola Luis, the colours are amazing, so natural and bright, wow. You can see the accuracy and beauty of the colours by the contrast between the bird and the peculiar plant. The blue, green, yellow and pink of the plant are amazing, and your composition is superb with the branch crossing the frame and the lovely bird taking a bite. Mucho gracias Luis52, you quiero mucho el photo!

Francine

pts tomorrow!

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2991 W: 148 N: 4435] (14369)
  • [2008-04-27 8:18]

Hi Luis.
What a wonderful scene and great picture. Brilliant image of the impressive plant and so nice bird. DOF is selected perfectly. Lights, colours, sharpness and details are amazing and BG, its colouration and smoothness are splendid. Bravo.
Alexei.

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