House Finch, female, with a berry
Haemorhous mexicanus
House Finch · San Diego · 6 March 2026
A female House Finch with a berry in a San Diego garden, in the part of the world the species actually comes from. House Finches were a bird of the deserts and towns of the West, and this is their home range; every one in the East descends from cage birds released on Long Island in 1940, sold illegally as "Hollywood finches" and let go ahead of a raid.
A plain streaky brown finch without the male's red head and breast. His colour comes from carotenoid pigments in the diet rather than from sex alone, and a male raised on poor food can end up drably orange or yellow instead of red.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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