Are these fat House Finches? (1 Viewer)

[hominid4]

Hi all, I've always had house finches come to my feeders (as most of us) but I can't recall ever seeing them being so fat. Are these photos of a female and a orange-variant house finches? And do they vary in size from being pretty thin to this fat? I've also attached a photo showing a couple of the smaller and thinner finches.

Thanks!,
Wesley

 

[Dave B Smith]

Hello Wesley,
First, on behalf of the staff, welcome to the Birdforum. Yes, I believe you're correct with the ID on all of your photos. As to being fat, birds do vary somewhat with time of year - getting ready for migration they are heavier than just arriving after migration. But what typically makes them look fattest is when they "fluff up" in the colder weather trying to stay warm.

 

[hominid4]

Thanks Dave for the welcome and confirmation. I was pretty certain with the male finch but was starting to second guess my ID of the 'fat' female.

Thanks again, and glad to be part of the forum,
Wesley

 

[KC Foggin]

That's a nice example of a variant House Finch in that middle shot and a warm welcome to you :t:

 

[AlexC]

Hey Wesley,

As Dave and KC have got for you, your birds are all House Finches, and 'fatness' is most of the time fluffed up feathers. KC mentions the variance in one of your males, I just wanted to note that this is strictly color variance, which from I have read is due to diet. I've seen male House Finches stretch all the way into yellow as far as this color variance!

 

[hominid4]

Thanks KC for the comment and the welcome. I've never had this many variety of house finches at my house before. There's a group around 35 or so that come in every few minutes to my feeders and amongst those are a pretty wide variety of colors and looks.

Alex, I also have yellows out there as well |:d|

 

[AlexC]

Thanks KC for the comment and the welcome. I've never had this many variety of house finches at my house before. There's a group around 35 or so that come in every few minutes to my feeders and amongst those are a pretty wide variety of colors and looks.

Alex, I also have yellows out there as well |:d|

Nice shot! :t: