We are being bombarded with many birds at our feeder right now. There is a flock of purple finches, and another bigger flock of pine siskins – which all fight for the sunflower seeds. It’s very entertaining and is especially amusing when you see the smaller pine siskin keep the larger finches away from the food.
The male purple finch is brightly coloured and is easier to identify than the female (seen below).
They are larger and chunkier than chicadees and nuthatches. Their beaks are larger than sparrows, but it’s still difficult for me to identify a female purple finch when the male isn’t around.
Apparently, Roger Tory Peterson, who studied birds and wrote bird identification books described the purple finch as a “sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.” I think that’s an apt description.
