Stan Tekiela explains how to tell house finches and purple finches apart at backyard feeders during spring migration.

House finches are very social birds that enjoy the company of their owners. Many of these brightly colored birds like to perch on fingers or even receive a pet on the head or body. Given that ...

Over a door in the quiet yard of a historic home in Newburyport, a drama is unfolding. A house finch couple built a nest, the female laid her eggs, and then a brown-headed cowbird showed up. Since ...

Q: We live in Adams and are new at this: We have had bird feeders for two years now and have learned to name most of the birds that come. But we have two with red on them that kind of look different.

In March 1942, a flock of seven house finches was discovered on Long Island. This was highly unusual, since at the time, house finches were typically found only west of the Mississippi River, ...

The flash of deep red at the bird feeder might have you guessing. Is it a Purple Finch? Something more exotic? Identifying the small, energetic birds that visit our yards can feel like a puzzle. One ...

We are prone to pay scant attention to the ever-present house finches at our backyard bird feeders. They’re not the most eye-catching birds. But the males attract the females' attention with a bit of ...

DEAR JOAN: A male house finch that is a regular visitor to my deck for sunflower seeds appears sick. He’s less active, and when he perches, he gapes his beak open and closed, over and over, like a ...