{"id":97439,"date":"2021-11-18T06:15:32","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T13:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=97439"},"modified":"2025-10-05T19:04:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T00:04:28","slug":"male-house-finch-in-front-of-an-old-red-barn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/18\/male-house-finch-in-front-of-an-old-red-barn\/","title":{"rendered":"Male House Finch In Front Of An Old Red Barn – What\u2019s In A Name?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale House Finch in front of a red barn \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Just a simple photo this morning of a male House Finch perched on a greasewood in front of an old red barn at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n

What I like about this House Finch image is the pose and head angle of the finch, the light, the smooth bokeh in the background, and the light in the eye of the finch. The pink and reddish tones in the background are from an out of focus old red barn. I also like that just a bit of the sky is visible in the top right corner of the frame.<\/p>\n

What I don’t like about this House Finch photo is the out of focus bare branches of the greasewood to the left of the finch. I wish they hadn’t been there or that I had been farther north and perhaps then they would not have been so distracting to me.<\/p>\n

I could remove those out of focus, bleached bone-colored branches of the shrub in post processing but I don’t like doing that much manipulation to my photos.<\/p>\n

The red barn in the background got me to thinking about what is up with the common name for this species.<\/p>\n

The name “House Finch” irks me a little. These finches existed before human made houses did but somehow they got stuck with a common name that includes buildings we construct.<\/p>\n

I feel the same about House Sparrows, House Wrens, Barn Owls, Barn Swallows or any other birds that got stuck with something humans have constructed out of sticks, bricks, and mortar in their common names.<\/p>\n

I know that for a period of time House Finches were called “Hollywood Finches<\/span><\/a>” when they were sold as caged birds in the eastern U.S., yuck. Hollywood? I’m very glad that name didn’t stick.<\/p>\n

Streaked Rose Finch would work nicely because House Finches are in the genus Haemorhous which includes other American rosefinches and that name would at the very least be more descriptive of these colorful finches than “house” is.<\/p>\n

I know, the birds don’t care what they are called so what difference does it really make? Maybe at the end of the day it doesn’t matter at all.<\/p>\n

Yet I have to wonder if all of the great birdy minds were asleep in their beds when this species was named.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Just a simple photo this morning of a male House Finch perched on a greasewood in front of an old red barn at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97436,"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":[27,1022,697,2696,26],"tags":[4004,970,211,12575,4620,3504,3495,1830,2698,2697,4062,4094,4104,12574,1831,4018,4095],"class_list":["post-97439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-house-finches","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-background","tag-common-name","tag-fall","tag-finch","tag-finches","tag-greasewood","tag-haemorhous-mexicanus","tag-house-finch","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-perched","tag-red-barn","tag-sarcobatus-vermiculatus","tag-sky","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/house-finch-male-red-barn-background-mia-mcpherson-5090.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-plB","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":97439,"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":117082,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/16\/male-house-finch-color-comparisons\/","url_meta":{"origin":97439,"position":1},"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":97200,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/10\/orange-variant-male-house-finch-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":97439,"position":2},"title":"Orange Variant Male House Finch Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/house-finch-male-orange-variant-mia-mcpherson-2791.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60573,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/29\/lesser-goldfinch-perched-on-greasewood-at-farmington-bay-wma\/","url_meta":{"origin":97439,"position":3},"title":"Lesser Goldfinch Perched on Greasewood At Farmington Bay WMA","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Until three days ago I really haven't taken any decent images of Lesser Goldfinches that weren't at bird feeders but that changed when this one landed on a greasewood in front of me at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lesser Goldfinch perched on Greasewood, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lesser-goldfinch-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-0001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lesser-goldfinch-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-0001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lesser-goldfinch-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-0001.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lesser-goldfinch-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-0001.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":97439,"position":4},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/house-finch-female-sunflowers-mia-mcpherson-1442.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115800,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/11\/one-chonky-american-goldfinch\/","url_meta":{"origin":97439,"position":5},"title":"One Chonky American Goldfinch","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was at Farmington Bay WMA last week, I had a chonky American Goldfinch fly in and land on a greasewood in front of me. Of course, I took photos of it.","rel":"","context":"In "American Goldfinches"","block_context":{"text":"American Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chonky American Goldfinch, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}