CLIPBOARD : BREEDING BIRDS : PURPLE FINCH (Carpodacus californicus)

Description: Males are rose color with buffy undersides; females are brown with heavily streaked undersides, light eyebrows and cheek lines; undertail feathers are solid brown. Both have dark ear patch. Length is 6 inches.

Habitat: Found in canyons, open woodland.

Diet: Gleans seeds, insects from ground; eats mostly fruit in summer.

Displays: Male hops while dangling wings and swelling chest. Wings fluttering and tail cocked, he sings and rises six to 12 inches off the ground.

Nest: Neat, cup-like nest lined with fine roots, twigs, grass and hair. Usually found on horizontal branch far from tree trunk.

Eggs: Pale green-blue with brown and black markings; 8/10 of an inch.

Call: In flight, a short, metallic pit ; song is rich, lively warbling.

Breeding bird atlas: To report bird breeding activity in your neighborhood, or to get information on the breeding bird atlas, call Sea and Sage Audubon Society members Sylvia Gallagher, (714) 962-8990, or Nancy Kenyon, (714) 786-3160.

Note: Map is divided into 5-kilometer squares so that Audubon Society volunteers can more easily survey areas on a regular basis.

Sources: Sea and Sage Audubon Society; “The Birder’s Handbook,” Ehrlich, Dobkin and Wheye, Fireside Books (1988); “Field Guide to the Birds of North America,” National Geographic Society (1987); “Birds of Southern California: Status and Distribution,” Garrett and Dunn, Los Angeles Audubon Society (1981).