These are great pics, Jim! This one of the male house finch could go to the field guide publishers as proof that most of their range maps are wrong and that these fellows are found up here! :o) :o)

Hi Jim, I have had a flock of 20 or more of what appear to be House Finches around my feeder several times daily for almost a year now. Since early summer I have not seen any with red on their heads - they all appear to be females or this year's fledglings. I read somewhere that the intensity of the males red plumage depends on the type of feed. My feeder is primarily filled with cracked sunflower seeds, which they regularly gorge on. Any comments as to why I'm apparently not seing any males? Art Davison

-We've had times in our backyard when we didn't see red males; it wasn't until last year that we saw them at our flat feeder, which is immediately outside the Dining room window! (remember that our first sighting was in 2003!) -the breeding males seem to prefer more secluded feeders with perches, hanging from a tree. They prefer to land high in trees and work their way down, branch by branch, until they reach the feeder. -your breeding males have to be feeding somewhere. You might try to hang a perched oilseed feeder from a tree branch, if you can.