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I’ve been enjoying my little flock of House Finches. I’ve seen very few of them over the last decade or so, but this winter there are always several at the feeders.
What’s interesting about House Finches is their coloring. The more carotenoid pigment the bird gets in its diet during molt (from various seeds, flowers and fruits), the more red it will display. Birds that eat less carotenoids will display more orange or yellow hues.
You can see a very subtle difference below. The male on the left is more orange than the one on the right.
And this bird really loaded up on the carotendoids because he’s the most red of all:
