House (Orange) Finch

Orange  House Finch  

(Carpodacusmexicanus)

Photographed in the wild,

Las Vegas Nevada  Mar, 2018

Unlike the  bright red and brown bird common in the cities and suburbs, the Red House Finch comes readily to feeders. The Orange finch is a color variation of this specie.

 The House Finch was originally a bird of the southwest United States and Mexico. The orange color of a male comes from pigments that it gets in its food during molt. The more pigment in the food, the more orange the male is. Females prefer to mate with the most orange male they can find, perhaps assuring that they get a capable male who can find enough food to feed the nestlings. These orange finch were found in Las Vegas Nevada near the mountain hill sides

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