With the word “trillion” being tossed around casually in the news every day perhaps this won’t seem like a big deal, but scientists estimate that there may be over one billion House Finches in North America. That’s three birds (and an unhatched egg) for every person in the United States alone!
Wisconsin is in their year-round range, yet I rarely see House Finches in my backyard, or around the neighborhood for that matter. Their cousins, the American Golfinches, are regular visitors to my feeders as are Pine Siskins and, recently, even Common Redpolls. I’ve never understood why the House Finches are missing in action in my “neck of the woods.”
I suppose I should be thankful that I don’t have a flock emptying my feeders of expensive birdseed, but in the spring I surely miss the sweet, deliriously-happy song of the male House Finch.