Episode Number
122
Episode Show Notes / Description
House finch (Haemorhous mexicanus).
The finch from the west that has taken over feeders across the east.
Voice of the Wild is a podcast about wildlife and the wild sounds they make.
The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode:
- House Finch song by Geoffrey A. Keller (ML510161)
- House Finch call by Geoffrey A. Keller (ML510165)
- Purple Finch (Eastern) song by Gregory Budney (ML510176)
Sources and more:
- Cornell’s All About Birds
- Audubon
- Cornell’s Birds of the World
- Audubon videoguide to 505 birds of North America
- Field guide to hotspots and birds in Illinois by Colin Dobson
- Peterson field guide to the birds (Fourth edition)
- Sibley Birds East
Transcript
This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”
New York City 1939, was probably the first time and first place where this birds song was heard east of the Mississippi river. That was when a handful of poached birds described as “Hollywood finches” by unscrupulous sellers were released into the wild. In just a few decades, those birds would spread across half the continent, and now on top of their native range that spans from Mexico to Oregon, they’re common at every feeder from Florida to Maine. This is the house finch.
The eastern counterpart of the house finch is the purple finch. Between them the house finch female is less strongly streaked and the male less rosy red but in truth you might be more likely to confuse their songs. listen for the clear and open song of the purple finch compared to the sharp and buzzy character of the house finch. Here’s the purple finch clear and open….and now the second playthrough of the house finch; sharp and buzzy.
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW
New York City 1939, was probably the first time and first place where this birds song was heard east of the Mississippi river. That was when a handful of poached birds described as “Hollywood finches” by unscrupulous sellers were released into the wild. In just a few decades, those birds would spread across half the continent, and now on top of their native range that spans from Mexico to Oregon, they’re common at every feeder from Florida to Maine. This is the house finch.
The eastern counterpart of the house finch is the purple finch. Between them the house finch female is less strongly streaked and the male less rosy red but in truth you might be more likely to confuse their songs. listen for the clear and open song of the purple finch compared to the sharp and buzzy character of the house finch. Here’s the purple finch clear and open….and now the second playthrough of the house finch; sharp and buzzy.
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW