CASSIN’S FINCH!
BREAKING NEWS…Just when I was thinking that no good bird is ever discovered in Alaska in February, Seward birders proved me wrong. Carol Griswold’s feeder in Seward is currently hosting Alaska’s 5th record of Cassin’s Finch. Carol found the bird yesterday and was able to get some great photos which aided with this difficult ID. Carol is a human being extraordinaire and a very welcoming finch-host. Click here for sighting details and contact information.
Seward has attracted several Purple Finches in recent years, but this is the first Cassin’s. The main separation points for Cassin’s are: a longer bill with a straighter culmen; white eye-arcs forming a nearly complete, delicate eye-ring; streaked undertail coverts; only a faint supercilium and malar stripe; and finer crisp streaking below, not coarse or blurry as in Purple. Female House Finch (also extremely rare in Alaska) should also be considered; however, a House Finch would show a stubby bill with a more strongly curved culmen, a plain face, and diffuse blurry streaking below. Since this is Alaska, I guess we should consider female Common Rosefinch also. Like the House Finch, a Common Rosefinch would show a stubby bill with a curved culmen, a very plain face, and slightly smudgier streaking below.
I took these photos this morning, February 21st, from Carol’s yard. The bird was very cooperative and came in to feed regularly all morning. It tended to avoid the feeder, but fed instead on the spilled seeds near the feeder. It wasn’t shy and spent a lot of time feeding in the open. There were 5 other finch species there this morning including both White-winged and Red Crossbills.
This first picture shows a long and nearly straight culmen (except the bill tip) and a delicate eye-ring. The streaking below is crisp and the face pattern is relatively faint.
This photo shows the streaked undertail coverts, which are lacking in Purple Finch.
This last shot points out two additional field marks of Cassin’s– long primary projection and crisp, black mantle streaks on grayish-tan feathers. It also shows the long and pointy bill.
Below is a photo I took of a Purple Finch in Seward in 2006. In it you can see the unstreaked undertail coverts and smudgy streaking on the breast and flanks. Also the supercilium and malar stripe are more prominent than in the Cassin’s. This bird also lacks an eye-ring, although the angle of this shot makes that difficult to discern. While the straightness of the culmen is also difficult to see from this angle, the bill does look shorter than the bill of the Cassin’s Finch and has a proportionately thicker base.
Purple Finch Carpodacus purpureus, Seward, 16 March 2006.
The last photo is one I took of a Purple Finch in Cordova in 2005. Even though the photo quality is low, the supercilium and malar stripe are distinctive and this bird lacks an eye-ring. Also, the streaking below is smudgy and the mantle streaks are not as sharp as those on the Cassin’s. It’s too bad there is a stick obscuring the primary spacing–that would be an interesting comparison to make with the Cassin’s.
