The female house finch is brown with white feathers towards the sides and back. It is white and brown towards the chest and belly, but its back is dark brown. The bill of house finches is small, bulbous, curved on top, while the bill of purple is larger, less curved.įemale purple finch has dark cheeks and white streaks below the cheeks as a mark of its identification. Male house finches have a clear identification of a smooth crown on their head, whereas male purple finches have a larger head and peaked towering crown. Male house finches have dark stripes under their wings which males do not have. Male house finch tends to be a shade or reddish-orange while male purple finch is mostly of reddish-purple. The difference in identification can be seen in the color of the male finch. House Finch And Purple Finch Identification Characteristics The calling sound of a purple finch is softer than that of a house finch. A purple finch has an average lifespan of 3-4 years during an average lifespan of 4-5 years. Purple finches tend to be very territorial, while house finch loves community group living. A flock of purple finches flies only in winters, whereas flocks of house finches tend to fly all year round. Purple finches have undulating flight whereas Housing finch Swift bounding flight. Not only is the house finch shorter, but it is also thinner than the purple finches. The purple finches are bigger and rounder than the house finches. Purple finches mainly depend on sunflower seeds for sustenance, while house finches are omnivores. It is a minute difference, not easily visible to most people. On the other hand, the house finch has color around the eyes but not on the head. Although upon identification, the bird looks brown and white at first, a closer look revealed the purple touch, especially on the head and towards the chest and belly. The entire body of purple finches has a shade of purple. House finches have streaks on their body while purple finches have stripes. However, if you look closer, there are visible differences between these two species of birds. These two species of birds tend to look absolutely the same to untrained eyes.
This often confuses their identification. They have identical sizes and similar characteristics.
Purple finches are found in North America, while purple finches can be seen in Canada and the Northeast. How can you tell the difference between a purple finch and a house finch?īoth purple finch and house finch are of the same group of birds. After reading about the comparison between males and females of this species, also check out more details about bird flying and bird talons. There are subtle differences in the color and appearance of these birds' eyebrows, forehead, curved bills, and breast color, which helps with their identification.
Two species of finches are of particular interest to certain parts of the population - house finch and purple finch. Both male and female finches continue to talk to each other throughout the day. Finches make pleasant sounds and prefer to be with their own kind.Įven a male finch cannot screech as loud as a parrot. There are several species of finches, and each has unique identification marks. When these birds are kept as pets, they are often not alone and enjoy the company of the other finches within the cage.