Species: Carpodacus mexicanus

House Finch

Species

Birds

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Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Articles:

Marine and terrestrial bird indicators for Puget Sound

December 01, 2013

A December 2013 report identifies marine and terrestrial bird species for use as indicators within the Puget Sound Partnership's "Vital Signs" for ecosystem health.

Black Scoter (Melanitta nigra). Photo by Dave Menke, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Fringillidae

Genus

Carpodacus

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100731

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Pinzón Mexicano - roselin familier

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Fringillidae - Carpodacus - (Guadalupe House-Finch) (AOU 1998). See Banks and Browning (1995) for a discussion of the generic status of the purple, Cassin's, and house finches.

Ecology and Life History

Migration

true - true - true - Primarily nonmigratory in the West. Partially migratory in the Northeast, where some individuals migrate southward for winter; females tend to migrate farther than do males (Belthoff and Gauthreaux 1991).

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

One study found that seeds comprised approximately 86% of the diet (Terres 1980); also feeds on plant buds and flowers, as well as fruits. Eats some insects. Nestlings are fed regurgitated seeds. Most seeds that pass through the digestive tract are not capable of germination.

Reproduction Comments

Clutch size is 2-6 (usually 4-5). Incubation, by female, lasts 12-14 days. Young are tended by both parents, leave nest in 14-19 days; fed by parents for 2-3 weeks after leaving nest (Hawaii).

Ecology Comments

See Bennett (1990) for information on the ecological relationship between the house sparrow and house finch in North America.

Length

Weight

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-12-04

Global Status Last Changed

1996-12-04

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

Primarily resident from southern British Columbia to southern Baja California and central mainland Mexico, from the Pacific Coast to western Montana, Wyoming, western Nebraska, western Oklahoma, and western California. Introduced in the Hawaiian Islands (abundant on all main islands), and in the eastern U.S. where, subsequent to the 1940 introduction, the range has expanded throughout most of the eastern U.S. and adjacent southern Canada (Jackson 1992).

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100731