House finches are the perfect urban bird. They would willingly trade an empty lot filled with grasses and bushes and trees for a nice new house with a bird feeder. They are fond (understatement) of ...

A Purple Finch in the middle of molting makes for a strange picture but is an essential part of the bird's life.

In studying animal communication, it’s hard to know whether animals react instinctively to the vocalizations of others or ...

Zebra finches have a more complex way of communicating than previously thought. A new study published in the journal Science found that the sociable songbird does not just recognize and organize ...

Zebra finches don’t just mimic sounds—they understand them, revealing surprising insights into animal communication and ...

Our last column focused on Juncos. This week, we will focus in a lesser manner on two other feeder birds, the black-capped chickadee and the more recent addition, the house finch. Let us begin with ...

House finches show up at bird feeders all year, but on most visits, their plumage is hardly eye-catching. They have dense brown streaking on the underside and a robust conical beak. Both males and ...

A classic bird identification challenge is separating House from Cassin’s Finches. They look quite similar but careful study will reveal details to confirm the ID. Finches are notoriously irruptive, ...