House Finch
Haemorhous mexicanus

The House Finch is a common feeder bird in Southern California. Originally only a resident of Mexico and the southwestern United States, they were introduced to eastern North America in the 1940s. The birds were sold illegally in New York City as “Hollywood Finches”. Originally only a resident of Mexico and the southwestern United States, they now range over most of the USA.
Even without the artificial spread of this species by the pet trade, range expansion has occurred by these birds on their own. By 1919, they made it to Oklahoma. In 1955, they found their way to Kansas. By 1968, they showed up in Nebraska. Now they can regularly be found in most of the Lower forty-eight states of the USA.
Until recently, the genus for this bird was Carpodacus. Since 2012, the preferred genus has become Haemorhous. Studies suggest eleven subspecies of House Finch:
- H. m. frontalis lives in the western USA from the Pacific Coast, including on the Channel Islands, east to the western Great Plains and south to northwestern Mexico, including islands Baja California (Mexico).
- H. m. amplus lives on Isla Guadalupe (Mexico).
- H. m. mcgregori lived formerly on Isla San Benito, Baja California Sur, is now extinct.
- H. m. ruberrimus lives in southern Baja California (Mexico).
- H. m. sonoriensis lives in northwestern Mexico from Sonora to Chihuahua and Sinaloa.
- H. m. coccineus lives in western Mexico from Nayarit to Michoacán.
- H. m. potosinus lives on the northern Mexican Plateau from Chihuahua and southwestern Texas, south to Zacatecas, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosí (Mexico).
- H. m. centralis lives on the central Mexican Plateau (Mexico).
- H. m. mexicanus lives on the southern Mexican Plateau (Mexico).
- H. m. griscomi lives in the Sierra Madre del Sur of Guerrero (Mexico).
- H. m. roseipectus lives in central Oaxaca Mexico).
House Finches are commonplace where I live in southern California. When I used to offer seeds to the local birds, the daily numbers approached a hundred. When my nocturnal rodent population got out of control, I stopped supplying seeds, and now I see far fewer birds, but my water feature still brings in plenty of House Finches and Lesser Goldfinches. Arizona and west Texas have also proved to be locations where these birds can be easy to find.

House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Poway, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2005:04:28 12:14 |
Location:
Poway Grove Park |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 280 mm, f/8.5, 1/250 |
File Name: JCD0970HouseFinch |
© 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Poway, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2005:04:28 13:36 |
Location:
Poway Grove Park |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/10.0, 1/250 |
File Name: JCD0995HouseFinch |
© 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Fulmor Lake area. Images from the SDNHM study of the Santa Rosa, San Jacinto Mountains. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2010:06:29 7:56 |
Location:
Lake Fulmor |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 |
File Name: JCD1385.HouseFinch |
© 2010 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: In natural, late afternoon light. Poway, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2002:04:18 14:44 |
Location:
Poway Grove Park |
Camera Information: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 4000 ED, |
File Name: A2D18a27-HouseFinch |
© 2002 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: In natural, late afternoon light. Poway, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2002:06:21 14:44 |
Location:
Poway Grove Park |
Camera Information: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 4000 ED, |
File Name: A2F21a14-HouseFinch |
© 2002 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Poway. San Diego County, California. |
Date Taken: 2012:08:12 18:00 |
Location:
Poway Grove Park |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 400 mm, f/3.2, 1/4000 |
File Name: D3X6654-HouseFinch |
© 2012 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Fulmor Lake area. Images from the SDNHM study of the Santa Rosa, San Jacinto Mountains. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2010:06:29 7:53 |
Location:
Fulmor Lake |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 |
File Name: JCD1382.HouseFinch |
© 2010 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Camped with the San Diego Natural History team at Clover flats near Campo California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2017:10:25 8:26 |
Location:
Clover Flat |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/400 |
File Name: HouseFinch-WCSP_D5X5384-CloverFlats |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: A feeder watch near the visitor center provided meeting with the neighborhood finches. I first visited Bitterlake NWR outside of Roswell New Mexico in April 2020. This visit was a winter sampling of the reserve’s wildlife. |
Date Taken: 2020:12:25 12:08 |
Location:
Bitterlake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D5X2435-Bitterlake-Roswell-NM |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: A feeder watch near the visitor center provided meeting with the neighborhood finches. I first visited Bitterlake NWR outside of Roswell New Mexico in April 2020. This visit was a winter sampling of the reserve’s wildlife. |
Date Taken: 2020:12:25 12:27 |
Location:
Bitterlake NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D5X2655-Bitterlake-Roswell-NM |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: House Finches were the only member of the finch clan to meet me this day. The morning after I arrived, the birds found a temporary watering hole at Pine Springs Camp. The event at Guadalupe National Park was a memorable one for me. |
Date Taken: 2020:12:28 8:53 |
Location:
Pine Springs |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/11.0, 1/800 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D5X3905-GuadalupeMountain-TX |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Many birds are attracted to the stored water in Ayer Lake at the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum near Superior Arizona is a well known desert oasis and a great place to meet birds. |
Date Taken: 2019:10:23 16:04 |
Location:
Boyce-Thompson Arboretum |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D5X4419-Boyce-Thompson-Arboretum |
© 2019 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Seen near Cottonwood Springs in Joshua Tree National Park. Riverside County California. |
Date Taken: 2017:06:17 10:01 |
Location:
Cottonwood Spring |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D5X5317 |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Seen near Cottonwood Springs in Joshua Tree National Park. Riverside County California. |
Date Taken: 2017:06:19 5:47 |
Location:
Cottonwood Spring |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/3200 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D5X6298 |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Seen near Cottonwood Springs in Joshua Tree National Park. Riverside County California. |
Date Taken: 2017:06:19 5:52 |
Location:
Cottonwood Spring |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/3200 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D5X6338 |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Poway California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2018:04:26 18:12 |
Location:
Poway Grove Park |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D502989-Poway |
© 2018 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: Near Cottonwood Spring in southern Joshua Tree National Park. Riverside County California. |
Date Taken: 2016:09:28 8:55 |
Location:
Cottonwood Spring |
Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D727378-Web |
© 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: 2005 Poway, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2005:04:28 12:14 |
Location:
Poway Grove Park |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 280 mm, f/8.5, 1/250 |
File Name: HouseFinch_JCD0970 |
© 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: House Finches were the only member of the finch clan to meet me this day. The morning after I arrived, the birds found a temporary watering hole at Pine Springs Camp. The event at Guadalupe National Park was a memorable one for me. |
Date Taken: 2020:12:28 9:51 |
Location:
Pine Springs |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/11.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D5X4727-GuadalupeMountain-TX |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: The snow and frozen rain made traveling hazardous, so I found a large empty lot to park on the outskirts of Lewistown Montana. I planned to work on my blogs, but when I noticed four species of sparrows and other birds nearby, I had to grab my camera. |
Date Taken: 2022:05:20 13:28 |
Location:
Stockyards |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/9.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: HouseFinch_8502533-Lewiston.MT_ |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Haemorhous mexicanus) |
Description: San Diego Natural History Museum's BioBlitz-2010. Torrey Pines State Park. San Diego County, California. |
Date Taken: 2010:05:22 10:21 |
Location:
Torrey Pines Extension |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 |
File Name: JCD9078.HouseFinch |
© 2010 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Carpodacus mexicanus) |
Description: White-Crowned Sparrow in background. Camped with the San Diego Natural History team near Campo California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2017:10:25 7:48 |
Location:
Clover Flat |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/60 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D5X5245-CloverFlats |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


House Finch(Carpodacus mexicanus) |
Description: Birds *AND* mammals were the subject of the SDNHM study during this expedition. Though rodents occupied my primary focus, I did not neglect the common birds at this site. Pinyon Wells, Joshua Tree National Park. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2016:10:13 8:50 |
Location:
Pinyon Wells |
Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: HouseFinch_D728434 |
© 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |

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