Finches and other birds in the backyard and parks nearby.
This is the normal Red colored House Finch above, although he is drinking humming bird nectar.
We found a Yellow morph House Finch at a park nearby. I am not sure why he is yellow, perhaps it is related to the food they eat. The other ones are all red.
Edit: I am adding some info after publishing as I had time to read up on the House Finches and their colors. I was too busy before.
The male House Finch comes in red, orange and yellow. It is from the carotenoids in the diet and is used to attract females. The redder the male is the more the young females prefer it and they breed early and have successful chicks. The yellows breed later than the reds but they are the most helpful with feeding the chicks. The reds do not help with the feeding and have a better survival rate as they have no stress and sit around and eat all day. An older experienced female House Finch will prefer a yellow mate as he will feed her babies and she gets to rest. The younger House Finches all prefer the dashing reds. Some of the males will change from yellow to red over a few years. The orange House Finch is popular with the older females also as he will both breed early and then take over part of the feeding of the chicks. Who knew all these intimate details of House Finches! (found this stuff on line somewhere)
Leucistic Fox Sparrow below.
Kingfisher.
Flicker. We are at the letter "F" for the ABC Meme.
Fisgard Lighthouse for some more Red.
There was a Rock Wren at Fisgard Lighthouse which is kind of rare for our area.
Thank you to these meme hosts for allowing bloggers to share their story. Click on these links to find great blogs and photos.
The Bird D'pot RubyTuesdayToo Our World Tuesday Nature Notes Tuesday Wild Bird Wednesday ABC Wednesday Outdoors Wednesday Monday Mellow Yellow
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HAVE A GREAT WEEK BLOGGERS AND BIRDERS!!
All your photos are so great and all of these birds are quick, often jerky in their movements...GREAT job!...:)JP
ReplyDeleteWonderful birds and I liked the lighthouse pics too.
ReplyDeleteHello, Wonderful collection of birds. The Yellow-morph House Finch is a beauty! But, then all the birds are beautiful. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!
ReplyDeleteWonderful bird photos, especially of the flicker.
ReplyDeleteI love the little birds.
ReplyDeleteExcellent photos!
ReplyDeleteWonderful macro shots of nature's beautiful birds!
ReplyDeleteHappy Week to you ~ ^_^
Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful bird images!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fine visit!
ReplyDeleteLove your bird shots!
ReplyDeleteOh such a marvellous collection of gorgeous birds!
ReplyDeleteLove the lighthouse keepers house too!
Shane
So beautiful! I really like the bird shots and that lighthouse.
ReplyDeleteSUPER excellent post!! Some wonderful 'uniqueness' you've captured, and thanks for adding the info on their diet creating 'colors'. VERY interesting.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful images.
Thanks for sharing at I'd Rather B Birdin' this week.
Love seeing the birds you are seeing there! You remind me that we saw a yellow house finch when we were living on the Olympic Peninsula many years ago. Haven't seen one since. Bird colors tell such an interesting story!
ReplyDeleteWonderful photo's, especially those of the birds... wich i adore
ReplyDeleteHave a nice abc-day / - week
♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫ (abc-w-team)
Flickers are such pretty birds!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures! Gr. John
ReplyDeleteWe have several Flickers that visit our yard occasionally. They really are large birds with very large beaks.
ReplyDeletePlenty of finches around our place too. You gave some very interesting info. on them which I didn't know.
Very nice share of birds and the Fox Sparrow really is interesting in it's different colours~
ReplyDeleteI've had a song sparrow hanging around the cabin earlier in the month. We go home tomorrow, I wonder if any other birds have returned. - Margy
ReplyDeleteGreat captures!
ReplyDeleteInteresting information about the House Finches. That mottled Fox Sparrow is quite a find.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that it was a Finch I found who had passed away on our lawn, but the feathers were tinged with gold and green and it was really lovely, - poor wee bird.
ReplyDeleteThe fox sparrow is so pretty...and the flicker. Great captures!
ReplyDeleteLovely set of Finches !
ReplyDeletea very pretty bird!
ReplyDeleteROG, ABCW
Wonderful captures, and information on the finches. All our house finches are red, but I'm on the lookout for some yellow males now that I've seen your post! Have a wonder-filled week! #wildbirdwednesday
ReplyDeleteHi June, Thanks for the comment. I loved your blog. I could not figure out how to comment as it was a Google+. I have to move over to Google+ to comment on some of these blogs, so I am sorry to some of the bloggers who post comments on here as I try to figure out how to comment back but can't do it.
DeleteGreat shots - love that Flicker!
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
Gorgeous photos Nora! Not only have I not seen a Fox Sparrow before, I've never even heard of them! Very pretty and and colored to blend in.
ReplyDeleteAwesome pictures!
ReplyDeleteHappy ABCW!
Cheers, Srivi - https://thepisceanme.wordpress.com
What fun seeing a yellow house finch! I loved reading about them, and had no idea they came in "different colors!" What an amazing find! Great pictures, all!
ReplyDeleteHi Nora... I did not know that about the finches,,, Thank you for the information.. Your photos are protected and I can't collect them for the collage anymore,,,Michelle
ReplyDeleteLove your bird photos, especially the Flicker! I had no idea that the color of the male finches was in any way related to their diet!
ReplyDelete