Guess what?…. yep another bird post.  This one actually came out of a discussion with my brother Ron regarding the previous post (Part 4) on a red colored bird I had come upon previously.  Originally I had classified that bird as a Purple Finch, but upon further investigation we decided it was actually a Pine Grosbeak (at least we think).  While trying to determine that type of bird, I came upon some pictures I had taken that match much better to the description of the Purple Finch.

In agreement with the guide description, this guy’s beak is a more tannish tone and he is sporting a pretty trendy crest.  To be honest, I really do not know much about this bird.  I snapped a few pictures when I had the chance, but I really have not been able to observe any of its interactions with other birds or feeding habits.

Here is another shot which shows the markings a little better – unfortunately he decided to clean his beak at the same time.

However, I was able to snap this picture which gives a much clearer view (yeah, it’s a little fuzzy, sorry about that) of the head markings.  I haven’t seen this bird for about two weeks now so either my neighbors are buying better quality seed or they prefer foraging on their own.

While I am discussing red colored birds, I might as well go ahead and throw out my House Finch picture.

I had originally classified this bird with the purple finches, but on closer inspection it had streaks on its breast and was clearly sleeker than the purple finch.  I wish I had better lighting on the photograph, but this is the only picture I have of this bird making it one of the rarer ones to visit my feeding trough.  My guide claims it is a Western bird and indicated it was spreading east.  Ron’s book indicated that it had already swept pretty deep to the East (at least it has been seen in those areas).

I have another bird sporting the red, but I’ll just save that for another day.  Until then, keep your eye in the sky.