How to Attract: House Finches

House Finches are a very abundant bird in our area, although they were absent as of 100 years ago! These birds are native to western North America, and were released in the east in the 1940's when it was discovered they were being kept in captivity illegally.

The males have a splash of orange-red colour on their heads, shoulders and upper chest area, whereas the females are streaked brown all over their body. These birds can be confused with the Purple Finch, but watch for the brown streaks low on the chest of the House Finch, as well as brown on the back and wings.

Their diets are the most vegetarian of any North American bird. Unlike most other seed eating birds, finches do not switch to an insect diet during the summer nesting season. Approximately 97% of their diet consists of seeds, fruit and buds. A water source can also be a strong attractant for House Finches.  They can drink up to 40% of their body weight on a hot summer day! 

House Finches like to eat:

 

     

Black Oil Sunflower                                     Sunflower Chips                                    Safflower

   

Feeders for House Finches:

 

WBU Classic Hopper

Designed by Wild Birds Unlimited founder, Jim Carpenter, the Classic has curved ends so you can see birds feeding on both sides at the same time, and perch drains allow seed to drop out of the feeder for ground-feeding birds to eat.  All sizes of the hopper feeders will work well for House Finches as well as many other birds.  Available in cedar and EcoTough material.
 

 

 

WBU Dinner Bell Feeder

If you want to add versatility to your backyard birdfeeding setup, consider the WBU Dinner Bell Feeder. You can offer food to all the birds in your backyard or adjust the height of the top to exclude larger birds. Provide peanuts to jays and woodpeckers; give raisins or other dired fruit a try; fill the tray with mealworms to give the birds extra protein; or try one of our Seed Cylinders & Stackables. Attracts a great variety of birds!