I think this is a house finch ( but could be a purple finch, they seem to be very similar). Another bird taking advantage of the end of wild weather to pick some seeds out of the snow.
Mmm, intrigued. Lovely shot. It looks like a male Purple, but only looked on my phone. Obviously I don’t know this bird, and photographs don’t always convey everything. Relative size,stance behaviour etc. But I like challenge.
Remind me Joanne, you Chicago way ?
Well, that was an interesting half an hour. I have been reading up on your Purple and House Finches, and the differences between them.
To be honest, I was leaning towards it being a Purple Finch, but with just one shot of it, and with a faded winter plumage to contend with as well, I am just not sure. I think your title sums it up quite well.
By the way, both species enjoy sunflower seeds.
@markp Thanks for looking into it. Its hard to be sure, I think what tipped me towards the house finch was that the purple finch supposedly has white under it's tail where this one appears to have some brown streaks there but, as you said, one picture, one angle, one frozen position, it's a guess.
Remind me Joanne, you Chicago way ?
To be honest, I was leaning towards it being a Purple Finch, but with just one shot of it, and with a faded winter plumage to contend with as well, I am just not sure. I think your title sums it up quite well.
By the way, both species enjoy sunflower seeds.