House Finch Babies

[Kyler]

Well I have a House Finch Pair that decided to nest in one of my Modified BO Gourds. Just thought someone would think it was neat.



Kyler,

[BillieJR]

Thanks for sharing - I've never seen these babies/eggs before.

[Glynn B - LA]

I've never seen them before either, thanks for sharing. Skyler post a update if you can when they get a little older.

Glynn

[Kuemic]

Morning Kyler! Those babies are very cute! We have house finches ALL OVER our yard. The males have such a beautiful song. They were nesting under our deck roofing, in our Boston ferns, trying to nest on our front porch. They are prolific, will have 3 and 4 broods throughout the summer. Several times we saw cowbird eggs in the finch nests, but those cowbird babies don't survive on a seed only diet.

We loved hosting them until our ferns became overrun with mites. As the babies get a little older - watch out for them! Too many finches were thinking our Trio house was the bomb, kept getting caught in the traps, etc. In between their nesting cycles we finally shot some foam insulation under the deck roofing, and covered our plants with bird netting. They still come to our bird baths and jelly feeders but thankfully are nesting elsewhere!

--Michelle

[Matt F.]

Great photo Kyler!
Taken not a moment too soon as well - 1% left on your battery

[Kyler]

Thanks guys. I thought they would have been a problem but they seem to be minding there own business in there gourd. The martins are actually causing problems for them. They are landing on the porch of the gourd that little Female Finch is defending her ground.

Kyler,

[Matt F.]

There are some that are hoping that the House Finches will be sort of the "Patriot Missiles" in the fight against house sparrows.
The docile, much more Martin friendly cavity nesters (House Finches), gaining ground and systematically reducing the numbers of the more aggressive, and damaging cavity nesters (house sparrows).

[Kyler]

Matt,
Yes I know that some birds are very aggressive of protecting there young. A House Finch is a very quiet bird and you wouldn't think they would be so aggressive. I just didn't know if they would stay in that gourd. Or move to one of the houses and bother the martins even more?

Kyler,

[Matt F.]

Matt,
Yes I know that some birds are very aggressive of protecting there young. A House Finch is a very quiet bird and you wouldn't think they would be so aggressive. I just didn't know if they would stay in that gourd. Or move to one of the houses and bother the martins even more?

Hi Kyler,
You're doing great.
I apologize - think you may have misunderstood my previous post with the "Patriot Missile" analogy.
I was just basically saying that the House Finches appear to be:
1. - Non-aggressive towards neighboring, nesting Martins (win)
2. - Appear to be competing with house sparrows in many regions (win)
The Patriot Missile is an anti-missile, missile. It's a good missile used to kill bad missiles.
The House Finch appears to be a good, sparrow-sized cavity nester.
It also appears to nest in many similar types of cavities that house sparrows do (Martin housing, cracks in buildings, dryer vents, etc.).
So hopefully, the House Finches are out-compete house sparrows for nesting cavities, which would subsequently result in fewer, aggressive house sparrows.
Hopefully......

[Kuemic]

Kyler, I agree with Matt, I don't think house finches are aggressive towards martins, and they don't like English sparrows around their nests.

For those colonies with numerous martin pairs, a house finch nesting is probably not an issue. In our case, our housing could be overrun with finches in a short time as we only have one nesting pair at this time. Hence we will discourage any non-martin variety from nesting in martin housing

Michelle

[handyman315]

Glad to hear House Finches are not aggressive towards PMs, would have thought otherwise. They look like a cross between a HOSP and a Purple Finch.

Have had success with House Wrens in apple gourds. Adorable little singers.

[Kyler]

Little Update. 4 Babies 1 Eggs left



Kyler,

[Bcorbs1217]

Kyler, I have some house finch nesting in a gourd on the other side of my yard from the gourd rack. Their nest is so "woody" that I can barely see inside! Maybe they collect different materials for nests here in Maryland? Thanks for the pictures. They are beautiful!

[Bcorbs1217]

Oops. Strike that. I think my nest is a wren's nest!

[DebA]

Kyler,
I love all birds with PM's being the King. Last year I watched a pair of House Finches nest in a previous year Oriole nest which is not far from my kitchen window. Watching them come and go feeding sure helped doing the dishes. I've never seen their eggs or babies so thank you!
Deb

[Kyler]

Deb,
Thanks they are so cool. But anyways as of now all 5 have hatched. They are growing so fast.

Kyler,