Hi Steve- The finch in the photo is a male House Finch. the streaking on the underparts and along the sides, plus the limited raspberry red blush on the head and tail, the short stout bill, and the overall brownish appearance are clear. Male Purple Finches are REALLY red- almost pinkish red- allover. Male Purples have virtually no streaking on the underparts because they're just rosy red from top to bottom. Purples are larger than House Finches, typically appear crested, and have a larger, more pointed bill. Some male House Finches can appear pretty red, bu never come close to the wholesomely pinkred male Purple! Thanks for sharing Cheers! Jen Sent from my iPod On Jan 14, 2011, at 2:37 PM, Steve <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Had a great find yesterday at my feeder. A male Purple Finch. It > was a > bit smaller than the regular House Finches that were there and had > just > a little blush of red starting to show over its whole head and > underside. There was also two females there. I thought at first that > they might be siskins, but then the male popped up. The eyes of the > females are just getting the eyestripes...they are faint but they are > there. So I am calling all three of them first years. > > Also have had a fun time taking pictures of Roasted Marshmallow Birds > (Snow Buntings) Over on Phelps Rd in Union County. A flock of 50 > or so > are there daily. Plus I have had my fill of Longspurs as well...well, > maybe a few more...;-D > > Pictures here, If someone could please confirm the Finches I'm 95% > sure, I just need a second set of eyes. Here is a pic that shows it's > tail real good.: > http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/sjlarue/Birds/_DSC3126.jpg . > Plus lots more here: http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/sjlarue/Birds/ > > Also, hey birding photographers, something that I had fun with > yesterday; fine tuning the Autofocus of my lens to my camera. If your > camera can do this,(Nikon, Canon, & maybe other SLRs) I highly > recommend > it, I used a cereal box to focus on, and you would not believe the > difference: > Bunting Before: > http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/sjlarue/Birds/_DSC2982.jpg > > Bunting After: > http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/sjlarue/Birds/_DSC3242.jpg > > Both are same distance..ish and focal length. > > Thanks, and have a great day! > > Steve J. > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/ > . > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]