Sparrow Dipped In Raspberry Juice

Day 170: Roger Tory Peterson's "Field Guide to Western Birds" was my first bird guide and still remains a favourite, balancing just about equally with that by David Allen Sibley. I frequently use the two side-by-side to compare the finer points of identification, and on any given occasion, it may be one or the other which tips the scales. That said, Peterson wins hands-down when it comes to humour, describing Purple Finch (recently reclassified as Haemorhous purpureus) as looking like "a sparrow dipped in raspberry juice." To differentiate Purple Finch from House Finch where the two species occur together, simply remember that "houses have shingles." The breast of House Finch is marked by distinct dark flecks while that of the raspberry-juice-dipped-sparrow are blurry and pale. East Coast populations of Purple Finch are darker than those found on the West Coast. The females of both are coarsely streaked, the only factor which saves them from being lumped as "LBJs" or "Little Brown Jobs" in birder parlance. Purple Finches eat a wide variety of foods, including seeds, insects, nectar, young leaf buds and fruit.