HOME: www.hiltonpond.org

- RESEARCH -
Carpodacus FINCHES:
PURPLE FINCH (C. purpureus)
& HOUSE FINCH (C. mexicanus)

© Hilton Pond Center

Male House Finch

House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus), introduced to New York City from the West in 1940-1941, breed commonly in eastern states and occur in winter at feeders with Purple Finches (C. purpureus). In South Carolina, Purple Finches are migrants, but House Finches are either resident or migrant.

Of 1,843 House Finches banded from 1967-1987 in South Carolina, 88% (n=1,622) were captured at Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History near York; these birds--plus 406 House Finches banded there from 1988 through June 1990--showed a 1:1 ratio of males to females. The 976 House Finches banded at Hilton Pond Center in the winter of 1983-1984 may have represented the southernmost large concentration of the species up to that time.

Migrant House Finches begin arriving at Hilton Pond Center in late October and depart in late March; an influx of local resident (breeding) House Finches since 1988 now complicates studies of winter migration patterns. Recoveries and recaptures of House Finches from Hilton Pond Center indicate some birds banded there in winter follow a narrow migrational flyway along the Piedmont physiographic province to breed in Mid-Atlantic and New England states or eastern Canada.

Migrant Purple Finches follow a Piedmont flyway to Hilton Pond Center 1-2 months after the first House Finches and stay as late as the end of June. About one-fourth (n=749) of 2,702 Purple Finches banded from 1982 through June 1990 at Hilton Pond Center were red males in their second year or older; the remainder (n=1,953) were brown birds that could have been young males, or females of any age. Twenty-six Purple Finches originally banded at Hilton Pond returned in the winter of 1989-1990, including 15 birds at least five years old.

Work on both species continues at Hilton Pond Center. As of 10 February 2002, nearly 12,000 Carpodacus finches had been banded: 6,322 House Finches and 5,571 Purple Finches. Together, these two species comprised nearly a third of the 40,522 birds of 123 species banded at Hilton Pond Center through 10 February 2002.

Click here for an on-line version of a publication about this research.

Back to Hilton Pond Introduction

Back to Bird Research Page

If you found this information useful or interesting, please
Support
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
It's painless, and YOU can make a difference!

Just CLICK on a logo below.
Make direct donations on-line through
Network for Good:
LIKE TO SHOP ON-LINE?
Donate a portion of your purchase price from 500+ top on-line stores via iGive:
Use your PayPal account
to make direct donations:

You can also
post questions for
The Piedmont Naturalist

Search Engine for
Hilton Pond Center

Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a non-profit research & education organization in York, South Carolina USA; phone (803) 684-5852. Directed by Bill Hilton Jr., aka The Piedmont Naturalist, it is the parent organization for Operation RubyThroat. Contents of this website--including articles and photos--may NOT be duplicated, modified, or used in any way except with the express written permission of Hilton Pond Center. All rights reserved worldwide. To obtain permission for use or for further assistance on accessing this Web site, contact the Webmaster.