{"id":97200,"date":"2021-11-10T05:53:24","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T12:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=97200"},"modified":"2021-11-10T05:53:24","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T12:53:24","slug":"orange-variant-male-house-finch-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/10\/orange-variant-male-house-finch-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Orange Variant Male House Finch Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"OrangeOrange variant male House Finch \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

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. Adult male House Finches normally show pinkish to rosy-red feathers on their faces, breasts and rumps and that red coloration is due to their diets. Beta-carotene in their diet produces yellow to orange colors, isocryptoxanthin produces orange colors, and echinenone produces red colors.<\/p>\n

I would call this male House Finch an orange variant and that he may have been missing echinenone in his diet when he last molted.<\/p>\n

\"OrangeOrange variant male House Finch eating greasewood seeds \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This male House Finch stayed perched on this greasewood branch for a relatively long period of time. I focused on him and other birds that were flying into the shrub.<\/p>\n

House Finches are fairly common birds throughout the U.S., Mexico and into Central America but they didn\u2019t used to be common in the eastern U.S.. Historically House Finches were found in the southwestern states but they were brought to Long Island, NY as caged birds. In 1940 a small population of House Finches were released from their cages and they spread throughout the east.<\/p>\n

When I lived in Virginia I saw them often and they nested in my garden and under the awnings I had on my west facing windows. The male House Finches I had there were usually a brighter red than the birds I see here in Utah. Their diets may have been richer in echinenone than the birds I find here.<\/p>\n

\"OrangeOrange variant male House Finch in autumn \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This male House Finch gave me several different poses and I was delighted by that. I don’t see the orange variants of House Finches all that often and I am always happy to have them in my viewfinder. This one was very cooperative.<\/p>\n

\"AutumnAutumn male House Finch perched on a greasewood \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to include this typically colored male House Finch that I photographed prior to the orange variant for comparison. He is much more rosy colored around his face and breast than the orange colored variant in the first three photos.<\/p>\n

The next time the orange variant House Finch molts he may well look just like the red male above depending on his diet when he is molting next year.<\/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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97186,"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":[27,1022,697,2696],"tags":[4004,970,12551,4620,3504,3495,1830,2698,2697,4062,4094,12550,4104,8277,1831,4095],"class_list":["post-97200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-house-finches","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-diet-related-variation","tag-fall","tag-finch","tag-finches","tag-greasewood","tag-haemorhous-mexicanus","tag-house-finch","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-orange-variant","tag-perched","tag-plumage-variation","tag-sarcobatus-vermiculatus","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/house-finch-male-orange-variant-mia-mcpherson-2791.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-phK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61605,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/22\/male-house-finches-feeding-on-the-seeds-of-greasewood\/","url_meta":{"origin":97200,"position":0},"title":"Male House Finches Feeding On The Seeds Of Greasewood","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Having this male House Finch perched in a frost kissed Greasewood a few days ago with blue sky behind it did make him stand out well.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male House Finch feeding on Greasewood seeds, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/house-finch-male-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-3880.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/house-finch-male-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-3880.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/house-finch-male-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-3880.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/house-finch-male-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-3880.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17164,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/19\/how-house-finches-moved-east\/","url_meta":{"origin":97200,"position":1},"title":"How House Finches moved East","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"House Finches are fairly common birds throughout the U.S. Mexico and into Central America but they didn't used to be common in the eastern U.S.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male House Finch at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/house-finch-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-3300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/house-finch-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-3300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/house-finch-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-3300.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":117082,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/16\/male-house-finch-color-comparisons\/","url_meta":{"origin":97200,"position":2},"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, 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2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've only had one opportunity to photograph Cassin's Finches so far and that was in the small town of Lakeview where the headquarters of Red Rock Lakes national Wildlife Refuge is located.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Cassin's Finch, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cassins-finch-mia-mcpherson-6152.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cassins-finch-mia-mcpherson-6152.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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