{"id":129450,"date":"2024-06-13T03:56:35","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T08:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=129450"},"modified":"2024-06-13T03:56:35","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T08:56:35","slug":"arkansas-house-finch-with-odd-coloration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/06\/13\/arkansas-house-finch-with-odd-coloration\/","title":{"rendered":"Arkansas House Finch With Odd Coloration"},"content":{"rendered":"

While I visited my friend Steve Creek<\/span><\/a> in Arkansas, he had a House Finch with an odd color variation coming to his feeders, which I photographed from his deck.<\/p>\n

\"HouseHouse Finch adult with plumage color variation \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

A casual glance at the bird made it seem like a dull male House Finch. The thing is, it was the height of the breeding season for these finches, and this finch acted like a female, but females typically would not show this much color.<\/p>\n

On at least two occasions, this finch would flutter its wings, squat, and lift its tail when a brightly colored male came to the feeder.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult House Finch with odd coloration \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve pondered the color variation and female-type behaviors this House Finch exhibited while I observed it and really haven’t come to a clear conclusion about the odd coloration.<\/p>\n

Older female Mallards can develop more male-type plumage; I am beginning to wonder if female House Finches can do the same as they age.<\/p>\n

I’m really not sure about the gender of this House Finch<\/span><\/a>. I just know it was an interesting bird to observe and photograph!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my House Finch photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I visited my friend Steve Creek in Arkansas, he had a House Finch with an odd color variation coming to his feeders, which I photographed from his deck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13950,27,2696,13951],"tags":[4004,15189,3504,3495,13931,2698,2697,15188,4104,8277,165,1008,8018,13966],"class_list":["post-129450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-house-finches","category-sebastian-county","tag-adult","tag-color-variation","tag-finch","tag-finches","tag-garden","tag-haemorhous-mexicanus","tag-house-finch","tag-odd-coloration","tag-perched","tag-plumage-variation","tag-spring","tag-strange","tag-urban","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/house-finch-arkansas-odd-coloration-mia-mcpherson-7475.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-xFU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":117082,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/16\/male-house-finch-color-comparisons\/","url_meta":{"origin":129450,"position":0},"title":"Male House Finch Color Comparisons","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this male House Finch at Farmington Bay WMA 3 days ago. I noticed that he seemed dull compared to male House Finches I saw in Arkansas this year.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dull male House Finch in Utah, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/house-finch-adult-male-utah-mia-mcpherson-4025.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/house-finch-adult-male-utah-mia-mcpherson-4025.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/house-finch-adult-male-utah-mia-mcpherson-4025.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/house-finch-adult-male-utah-mia-mcpherson-4025.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":114623,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/07\/23\/female-house-finch-photos-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":129450,"position":1},"title":"Female House Finch Photos In Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing just a few photos of female House Finches this morning that I took while I was visiting my friend, Steve Creek, in Arkansas last month.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female House Finch in bright morning light, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/house-finch-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1431.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/house-finch-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1431.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/house-finch-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1431.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/house-finch-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1431.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137657,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/03\/purple-finch-finally\/","url_meta":{"origin":129450,"position":2},"title":"Purple Finch – Finally!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been waiting since the end of summer to see a Purple Finch show up, and yesterday I finally photographed a single female above the seed feeder!","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Purple Finch at the feeder, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/purple-finch-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5312.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/purple-finch-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5312.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/purple-finch-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5312.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/purple-finch-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5312.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":116615,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/02\/female-house-finch-in-sunflowers-gone-to-seed\/","url_meta":{"origin":129450,"position":3},"title":"Female House Finch In Sunflowers Gone To Seed","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I was tickled to photograph this female House Finch last week in sunflowers that had gone to seed. I liked the finch, the autumn colors, and the morning light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult female House Finch in sunflowers gone to seed, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/house-finch-female-sunflowers-mia-mcpherson-1442.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/house-finch-female-sunflowers-mia-mcpherson-1442.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/house-finch-female-sunflowers-mia-mcpherson-1442.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I had the opportunity to take a nice long series of an orange variant male House Finch while it ate the seeds of a greasewood.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Orange variant male House Finch, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/house-finch-male-orange-variant-mia-mcpherson-2791.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/house-finch-male-orange-variant-mia-mcpherson-2791.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/house-finch-male-orange-variant-mia-mcpherson-2791.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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