“Hollywood Finches”

In Europe they’re called Linnets – Carduelis cannabina, or, ‘hemp-eating’ goldfinches. But relax – if you have these birds coming to your feeders, they aren’t seeking marijuana. You don’t have to worry about the sheriff knocking on your door to inspect your birdseed. Our Linnets look like the Eurasian ones about as much as our American Robins look like the ones in an English garden.

They are relatively new birds to Nantucket, having first appeared here in 1974. How could this be? Is our climate changing so rapidly that new birds could just appear? What will happen in 2011?

The title gives us a clue as to what is going on. Our “Hollywood Finches” are alien invaders – but, from Hollywood? Let’s do some digging. We must go back in time to when laws on keeping native birds caged were more relaxed – about 70 years back.

In 1940 cage bird dealers in California began trapping and shipping these little birds to pet stores in New York City. They called them “Hollywood Finches” and they were popular. So popular in fact that they attracted the attention of Fish and Wildlife Service Agents who swooped down on these dealers. Rather than get fined, the bird shops turned the birds loose, and these finches have prospered since then.

This species is native to the western U.S. and Mexico. Their scientific name is Carpodacus mexicanus, the Mexican fruit-eater. In the bird book they are House Finches. They are part of a 250 species worldwide family of mainly seed-eating birds. House Finches are small, sparrowsized, and sexually dimorphic. That is – you can readily tell the boys from the girls. The females are quintessential little brown jobs (LBJs). They are plain-faced but streaked below. The youngsters are plain as well. It is only with age that the males pick up the reddish hue on their upper parts and rump.

They are very similar to their cousins, the Purple Finches that are native to the eastern U.S. and Canada. Purples have always been regular fall and winter residents here in small numbers.

House Finches were first found on a Nantucket Christmas Bird Count in 1974, when nine were located. They just kept on coming and by 1983 there were over 300. The population has kept fairly constant since then.

If you have bird feeders, you probably have House Finches. They aren’t there all the time like the Northern Cardinals and Black-capped Chickadees. No, they wander around in flocks of five to 25 birds, climbing high in the air and then swirling off to visit another site, perhaps miles away. It’s this wandering behavior that has contributed to their spreading and colonizing most of the eastern part of this continent.

When I lived near Atlanta in the early ‘80s, they were just reaching there and were considered a novelty, but quickly became common. Now when I visit southwest Florida, I’ve noticed they are starting to arrive there as well.

If you listen to birdcalls, House Finches are difficult to ignore. They are continually in conversation with one other. They have a rising “pee-eep” contact note. As a group takes off a chorus of these notes can be heard. As they fly along each bird calls every few seconds. The flocks bound along, but not in tight and synchronized bunches like starlings. You’ll hear that “pee-eep” call note and look up and see them in passage.

As daylight increases during the coming weeks our House Finches’ thoughts will turn to romance, and the males (and sometimes the females) burst into song. When you hear them, the word indefatigable springs to mind, or irrepressibly cheerful. Roger Tory Peterson describes the song as “bright, but loose and disjointed.” Sounds like a comment from one of my junior high teachers. At any rate, each jumble of whistled phrases last three or four seconds. They pause a few seconds, then off the song goes again, frequently ending with a descending, burry note.

House Finches will often nest very close to your house. If you have a planter hanging under the eaves you may find them setting up housekeeping there. You will then hear their songs and conversations almost continually. I enjoy the sounds but I know folks who think of it as noise and gently invite these Hollywood Finches to nest elsewhere – even California.

The nests are woven structures mainly of grass. Usually four bluish-white eggs are laid, reminiscent of a robin’s egg. Strangely enough there are reports of American Robins and House Finches sharing the same nest and jointly rearing the offspring.

Whether you call them Linnets, House Finches, or Hollywood Finches, these cheery songsters have moved here and love the place. Listen for their calls and then watch for a sparrow that looks like it’s been dipped in strawberry jam. I

George C. West creates illustrations for these articles.

Find more about Birding Nantucket on the web at http://kblackshaw. com/BN/BN.htm