Species: Carpodacus purpureus
Purple Finch
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Fringillidae
Genus
Carpodacus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Pinzón Purpúreo - roselin pourpré
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Fringillidae - Carpodacus - May constitute a superspecies with C. ERYTHRINUS (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
Short General Description
A small bird (finch).
Migration
false - true - true - Mountain-nesting populations in the West migrate elevationally. Northern breeding populations generally are long-distance migrants.
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Eats seeds (fall, winter, spring), insects (late spring), and fruits (summer) (Terres 1980). Young are fed primarily seeds.
Reproduction Comments
Clutch size 3-6 (usually 4-5). Probably 2 broods per year in west, 1 in east. Incubation 13 days, by female. Young tended by both parents, leave nest at about 14 days.
Ecology Comments
Occasionally forms same-sex postbreeding flocks of 20-30. Somewhat gregarious in winter, flocking with pine siskins and American goldfinches (Byrd and Johnston 1991).
Length
15
Weight
25
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-12-04
Global Status Last Changed
1996-12-04
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
BREEDING: northern British Columbia and Yukon to Newfoundland, south to California and northwestern Baja California, Great Lakes region, Pennsylvania, New England, and in the Appalachians south to West Virginia and Virginia. NON-BREEDING: southwestern British Columbia to northern Baja California, and from southern Canada to southern Texas, Gulf Coast, and central Florida.