Purple Finch

The purple finch is 12–16 cm (4.7–6.3 in) in overall length and weighs a mean 23.3 g (0.82 oz), ranging from 19.8 to 28.4 g (0.7 - 1.0 oz). It has a short forked brown tail and brown wings. Adult males are raspberry red on the head, breast, back and rump; their back is streaked. Adult females have light brown upperparts and white underparts with dark brown streaks throughout; they have a white line on the face above the eye. The subspecies H. p. californicus differs from the nominate in having a longer tail and shorter wings. Voice: Purple finch males sing several types of musical vocalizations, including a continuous dense warbling that is characteristic of finches, and a rapid string of musical high and low notes used when flocking, announcing territory, or attracting a mate. The continuous song has an up-and-down cadence of various notes. Nesting females have their own songs.