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A common visitor to our feeders is the House Finch. (They can be confused with our state bird, Purple Finch, but there are marked differences.) While the house finch males are rosy to red around the face and upper breast, the purple finch are more of a raspberry red.
In both birds, the females are plain grayish-brown.
What surprised me this week is when I discovered the presence of house finches in the Eastern part of our country is due to human interaction and in some places they are considered invasive species.
House finches originally lived in the southwestern part of the US in deserts, grassland, shrub land, and open woodland environments, as well as near human homes and cities. They were originally captured in Santa Barbara and sold in pet stores as “Hollywood finches”. In 1939, a pet store in Long Island, New York decided to release them to the wild when they weren’t selling in the store. By the early 1940s, wild nests showed up around Long Island and the spread has continued. You can now find house finches throughout the US and even Hawaii.
To discover more:
The phenomenon of a “blue moon” has two origins, where neither occurrence shows a moon with the actual blue color. The original/traditional definition is when there is a third full moon in a season which has four full moons. The most common reference, which actually came from a misinterpretation of the traditional definition is when there is a second full moon in a single month. The next Blue (Monthly) Moon will occur on May 31, 2026. A rarer occurrence is the black moon, which occurred on December 30th at 5:27 EST. A black moon refers to the second new moon within a single month. New moons are a result when the sun and moon occupy the same celestial longitude (a.k.a. conjunction). Unlike a full moon, we can’t see the new moon as the illuminated side is facing away from the earth. Astronomers and stargazers relish the sky visibility during a black moon as the lack of bright moonlight makes it easier to see faraway objects. This is especially valuable during the winter, when drier air offers better sightings through telescopes.
To discover more: The Rare 'Black Moon' of December 30 Rises Tonight |
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A family tradition of ours began seven years ago, inspired by Eve Bunting’s children’s book The Night Tree. In this poignant story, each Christmas Eve, a young family would head out into the woods and decorate a tree with “gifts” for the wild animals. The gifts would include strung popcorn, fruit, nuts, etc.
In our family, the tradition is to spend part of Christmas Eve day making bird-friendly ornaments and then decorate a small tree on our deck.
The ornament making is definitely messy, but fun. What’s even more rewarding is when we see how the birds respond. The tree also creates a place of shelter from predators and the wind.
We purchase a small tree, but before we purchased an artificial tree, we used to bring the real tree out on the deck and leave it there until the snow was gone. It definitely got a lot of use that continued long after the holiday was over.
Tried and true favorites:
For more ideas:
DIY: Outdoor Holiday Decorations That Double as Delectable Treats for Birds
