We got a pair of house finches nesting on the balcony.

I was doing some research on them to see when the eggs will hatch, and it seems they like those hanging flower baskets, which is where they made their nest.
The website also said that they used to be pet store birds in the 1930s but now their wild, so odd. I was however shocked to hear that the female leaves the chick caring duties for the father and then finds another mate and makes another nest somewhere else at the same time. WOW.

Some pictures of the nest: Enjoy!

Great pictures! What pretty little birds!

Linda

Teenytinytuna...I believe the little bird in your second picture is an AMANDAVA AMANDAVA or as commonly known...
strawberry finch or red avadavat. I believe it to be a female of that species and not a House finch. Strawberry finches
are a common ''cage bird'' and sold in the better pet shops.

Awesome pictures!!!
Thanx for posting them.
Hope you can get some of the baby birds when they hatch

Hi TTT,

Very interesting indeed, were all 3 of those pictures taken out on your balcony? I don't believe this is either a house finch (also called house sparrow) or a strawberry finch. In the one picture of the brown bird, the closest one, this looks like it could be one of several varieties of sparrow we have around here. The other picture of the red breasted bird is very confusing. Can you get any closer pictures and post larger photos rather than shrinking them?

House sparrows or finches are another bird like the rock dove that was brought over to North America from Europe a century ago.

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/84/_/House_Sparrow.aspx

Hmm... not a house finch. Ok, let's see if I can come up with more pics.
Can't take credit for the lovely pics, they're from my youngest sister and I "borrowed" them off her blog, lol.

Anyway, they are really tiny birds, they sing a lot and have those brown stripes, as you see the female. the male however has a red face and chest.

My sister says they look exactly like this: http://sdakotabirds.com/species/photos/house_finch.JPG

However from the pictures the strips look like they run down their bodies. The picture with both male and female is distorted slightly, not sure why, but you can see the glow of red from the male a bit.
Brad they look like house sparrows, but those are very common birds and I see a lot of them anywhere (in the world too) and with these guys, the male has a red face and chest, is that still compatible?

What a mystery, lol. I appreciate all the help, and let's see if we can figure out what kind of bird this is.
Ed, I asked her to see if she can snap a shot of them, hopefully the bird gives a chance.

Not the best pic but a silhouette of the beak and some red on male.

Hi TTT,

It seems that there is a species called a house finch, which is completely separate from a house sparrow. I always thought that the words were interchangeable but referred to the same species, apparently not!

I looked up the house finches too and if your sister says that is exactly what they look like, then they must be. They are apparently local to our area and a "recent introduced bird from Western to Eastern North America"

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/house_finch/id

What had me confused was the brilliant appearing red breast on the male finch in the one picture. Guess it was just a trick of the camera lens because that breast looked really bright, fire engine red. Even comparing it to photos of house finches, you wouldn't think it was the same bird. Pictures can really be deceiving.

Further reading and photo: http://www.bird-friends.com/BirdPage.php?name=House%20Finch

Your sister was right all along, good for her!!!

Brad! That's a great site!! Thanks.

Yes, those seem to be the birds, they're so adorable.
You're right about the glow in the shot, but the male from what I've seen is not fully red, just a bit on his head and chest exactly like the site you posted.

I wonder how the babies will look.

Hi TTT,

You're welcome and yes, in the one shot you posted it really looked like some really vivid and brilliant red on the breast of the male finch.

I noticed some new pics up on my sisters' blog, so here they are!! Isn't the birdy adorable??? ! She finally got a clear picture of the male.

The eggs look the same but it seems the nesting material has increased to create a deeper nest.

Hi Bella,

Yes...now this is a good picture of the male and you can see now that is a house finch. Still looks like the red on it's chest is quite bright and vivid! According to that one website I provided, the red on the chest depends on the diet of the bird. So perhaps the house finches around here eat something that makes their red colour more vibrant than other house finches from different areas.

Thanks for the new pictures, sure is a sweet little bird. I'll have to keep an eye out for them around here and now that I know what they are! So far all I've really noticed are the usual and plentiful birds in this area; grackles, robins and mourning doves. Oh and I have noticed a lot of crow activity too.

K - you've used the name Grackle a couple of times - not one I'm familiar with, so I had to look it up. I think it's because we have the larger cousins here, crows, ravens, but I've never seen these here (and I'm not sure if it just the picture I found, but are they really this malevolent looking?):

Yes, aren't they beautiful birds? I think grackles are gorgeous with their extremely shiny and iridescent feathers and contrasting white eyes! Umm, yes, I would say that they are a little stern looking perhaps.

Here's a short video clip I took of one in my backyard nearly 2 years ago

I'm kinda torn, there's something very Grimm's fairy tale about them, and yet they also remind me of my ex - might be that tall, dark, and oily quality they have.

Grackles are pretty but they're not quiet, they're SO LOUD and aggressive. I have a few fighting over the tree up front, it seems this tree is so valuable to nearly all nature that the squirrels, starlings, sparrows, grackles and mourning doves ALL want it. LOL!!

I got a picture of a grackle yesterday actually, he was making that loud hingy gate sound and puffing up at another one that was on a near by branch.

Its just the siloutte of him, since it was so sunny out there but you can see his beak open and his body puffed. I like them, just not so much when they climb down the fireplace.



I wonder what the house finches eat Brad, maybe berries?? I've never seen them in Ajax but yes it would be good to know if you spot some too in the area. There is so much food in the woodlands and around the creeks so it's good to see that they're taken care of well. Also there is a large golf course out back behind the balcony so I'll post some pictures when I can of the deer family that live right on the course and wander around amongst the golfers, lol.

Yep, lots of crows lately too, I wonder why, definitely some years more than others.

Hi Bella,

Yes, grackles are definitely noisy and aggressive birds! They are very dominant around here and bully a lot of other birds around. I remember one time though, years ago when I was feeding the birds in the backyard, a dove and grackle were on the feeder at the same time. The grackle was trying to bite at and bully the dove, but the dove stood her ground and with a few wing kung fu slaps, she scared the grackle away.

Yes, it could be some type of berry that the house finches are eating during the winter that makes their plumage so red! Makes perfect sense and there are berries on tries still during winter, or some of it.

Do take some pictures of the deer out in the golf course if you can, that would be nice.

We have Grackles here too! The males are really beautiful with their glossy black feathers!! The females are brown. Sometimes, the babies follow the females for a long time until they are old enough to start their own famililes!

They sure are easier to feed as babies than pigeons because they open their beaks to be fed!

There are different kinds...I think we have what is called "broad tailed."

That one on your video, Brad, is really a HANDSOME fellow!! And, yes, they ARE quite raucous. I like them...

Love and Hugs
Shi

Yep, definitely sounds like my ex - loud, aggressive, and he definitely thinks he's handsome. I think he has an appropriate new nickname.

@ Cyreen!