Northern Illinois | 1/28/2019 12:15 pm Local Time | Light Snow 29°F Moderate Winds
In Search of Snowbirds | House Finch House Finch are easy to bring to your backyard. Just fill your backyard feeders with small, black oil sunflower seed. If House Finches discover your feeders, they might bring flocks of 50 or more birds. Actually, my backyard feeder is a general outdoor bird feed which contains some sunflower seed. They show up by the dozen in the winter. Once they are close, winter background help separate them from the background.
The Back Story Small birds like this House Finch can be challenging to capture even with a long, fast lens. The Nikon 1 V3 with the 70-300mm lens allows for a 810mm effective focal length. It’s a long, not so fast lens at f5.6, but a very sharp lens. Still, it takes some practice to get a tack sharp image shooting handheld. For more insight, see Nikon 1 V3 for Birds | a 7 Image Story.
Quick Facts…
| Male House Finch … rosy red around the face and upper breast | |
| Habitat | Woodland edges, city parks, backyards, farms etc. |
| Range | Year around in Northern Illinois |
| Nest | Wide variety of sites: conifers, palms, ivy on buildings, cactus, holes in structures |
| Diet | Vegetable matter; mostly weed seeds and seeds, buds, berries, flower parts, & small fruits. |
| Behavior | Gregarious birds seen on feeders or perched high in trees. Sometimes, they feed on the ground. |
| Size | Length: 5.1-5.5 in | Weight: 0.6-0.9 oz | Wingspan: 7.9-9.8 in |
