Spring is in the air - house finch eating mountain ash berries.

I have been looking forward to the arrival of spring.  I feel as though it suddenly appeared yesterday as evidenced by the sounds of robins and red-winged blackbirds.  I was at Sibell Maude-Roxby Wetlands Park in Kelowna and my ears were accosted with the familiar and welcome songs.

A large mountain ash bearing fruit from the previous year was a popular spot for many species of bird.  Three that I saw eating the berries were robins, cedar waxwings, and a pair of house finches.  It was the male in the above photo I photographed.  Although the berries aren't a particular favourite of most birds, they are a welcome source of energy and nutrients when other more desirable forms are not available.

I have photographed house finches here in BC, in Arizona, and in Hawaii.  They are relatively abundant throughout much of the US and southwestern BC.  They can also be found east of the Great Lakes in Canada.

An interesting fact about male house finches is that they get their colour from the foods they eat while molting.  It is not coincidental that the berries are about the same shade of red as the bird's feathers in the photo.  Females are attracted to males with more colour, perhaps because it is indicative of their ability to forage successfully.  There is a less-cropped photo below showing the female in the same shot.

Male and female house finch on a Mountain Ash tree at Sibell Maude-Roxby Wetlands Park.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com