Front door visitors

[ol' blue]

We have some new visitors at our front door. I believe it is a mixed pair of house/gold finches.







You can see a second one coming out of the brown shell just above the left shoulder of the chick that is out. There are 2 colors of eggs, too.

[Breamchaser]

shhhhhhh! Chicks hatching. That has got to be neat for Y'all. Take care and more pictures as the chicks grow, John.

[ol' blue]

Will do. We've been trying to avoid using the front door when possible. The second chick was completely out last night.

[farleycat]

That is sooo coool.................

Bernie

[flyfishfairwx]

That is beautiful to the MAX !! very Kewl - Congrats on the new additions to your family!!

[Brad Williamson]

That's pretty cool. I have doubts about a possible house finch/goldfinch pairing or mating. While they are both finches--they aren't all that closely related. A quick search on such hybrids didn't turn up anything.

Perhaps you are referring to the different egg---for instance perhaps a goldfinch laid an egg in a housefinch nest. Stranger things have happened but the traditional nest parasite here in KS is the cowbird. That oddball egg has all the markings of a cowbird.

Here's a photo of housefinch eggs:

www.scienceviews.com/photo/library/SIA0566.html

btw, that first chick looks a whole lot like a cowbird. Momma house finch has her work cut out for her.

[TyroneFly]

Hi ol' blue,

That happened to us last year. I left the Christmas wreath hung on our front door until February and when I was finally ready to remove it I noticed a nest was in the process of being built. So not to disturb mother nature we came in and out of our house through the garage door. Momma and her babies did just fine and flew off a few weeks later.

[The Chronicler]

This is the nest of a House Finch [Carpodacus mexicanus]. These birds have a common habit of using wreaths, flower pots and similar objects as nesting sites. I have had them build a nest behing my porch light on the front of my house. The males may have a red head and breast or they may be more orange in color.

Nice images.

The Chronicler
[Master Federal Bird Bander]

[quivira kid]

Greg, that's cool! Keep us posted. House finches are fun to have around.

<Right turn>
Master Federal bander huh? That's pretty neat! I had the chance a few years ago to work at a fall banding station at the university I was attending. It was one of the coolest experiences ever! I'm a huuuuuge bird geek, so getting to handle and see songbirds up close and personal was an incredible treat. I should post some pictures some time!
<Left turn back to topic>

Zac