Finches in Fennel in January
These two House Finches were dining on fennel seeds this morning, while a flock of probably more than a hundred of their ilk swept past this northerly park site on their way somewhere south. I also saw but could not get a good photo of a White-crowned Sparrow feeding on the seeds of Rumex Crispus, which are poisonous to mammals but apparently not to birds. The fennel starts being a bird food source in September, when the seeds emerge, and keeps on giving throughout the winter. The plant is a mainstay of bird habitat in the park; read more about it here.
House Finches range in color from dark red to bright to orange and yellow, as these two individuals illustrate. I’ve photographed and written about the House Finch several times on this blog; check out the earlier posts here.
