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Puzzled by this bird need ID please & thank you

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4 replies
Posted by John Tobias on October 28, 2013 at 8:04 PM
Puzzled by this bird need ID please & thank you
Taken today in central Illinois. At first thought it was a female pine siskin, or maybe an immature. Could not find it in my bird books. Any ID help will be appreciated.
Posted by John Neukirch on October 28, 2013 at 8:33 PM
Just guessing here John but perhaps a juvenile house finch?
Posted by Richard Ditch on October 28, 2013 at 9:31 PM
House Finch female.
Posted by John Tobias on October 28, 2013 at 11:47 PM
Thanks guys, I should have known. I have seen so few house finches this summer I did not even think of them.
Posted by Jim DeWitt on October 29, 2013 at 1:27 PM
The bill is often the key to IDing songbirds. A finch's bill, designed to crack hard seeds, is very distinctive. Chunky (massive in the case of Grosbeaks) and usually showing a gap. And once you know you have a finch species, sorting out which one is easier.