Julie Zickefoose on Blogspot: House Finches Can Be Annoying

Julie in the Flesh

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Thurs. Feb. 27, 2020, 7 PM: "Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay" at Mt. St. Joseph University Theater, 5701 Delhi Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45233. Doors open 6:30 pm. For info call Colleen McSwiggin (513) 244-4864

Mar. 11-15, 2020: Bird Friendly Backyard workshop and Saving Jemima talk at Joint Conference, N. Am. Bluebird Society/Bluebirds Across Nebraska, Holiday Inn Convention Center, Kearney, NE. Right in the middle of sandhill crane migration! Call (308) 237-5971 for reservations.

Mon. Mar. 23, 2020, 6 PM: "Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay" at Morgan Co. Master Gardeners Event, Twin City Opera House, 15 W. Main St., McConnelsville, OH. Free and open to the public. Call (740) 962-4854 for information.

Sun. Mar. 29, 2020, 3 PM: "Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay" at Sunday With Friends,, Washington Co. Public Library, 205 Oak Hill St. NE, Abingdon, VA 24210. For more information, call (276) 676-6390

Apr. 30-May 2, 2020: Julie Zickefoose at New River Birding Festival, Opossum Creek Retreat, Fayetteville, WV. Friday night keynote: Saving Jemima. Curtis Loew, miracle curdoggie, presiding.

May 7, 2020, 7 pm: "Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay" at Campus Martius Museum, Washington and Third Streets, Marietta, OH. Booksigning after. If you missed the Esbenshade lecture/ People's Bank talk in November 2019, this is your event!

Weds. May 13 2020, 5:30 PM: "Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay" at Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center's event at Essex Meadows, 30 Bokum Rd., Essex, CT 06426 This event is open to the public.

Thurs. May 14 2020, 6 PM: "Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay" at New Haven Bird Club's Annual Banquet, Amarante's Restaurant, 62 Cove St., New Haven, CT 06512. This event is open to the public!

Sat. May 16, 2020: "Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay" for Bergen Co. Audubon Society at Meadowlands Environment Center, 2 DeKorte Park Plz, Lyndhurst, NJ 07071 Time to be announced. Call (201) 460-1700 for more info.

Sun. May 17, 2020, 2 PM: "Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay" at White Memorial Conservation Center, 80 Whitehall Rd., Litchfield, CT 06759. Call (860) 567-0857 for information.

Tues. May 19, 2020, 7 PM: Good Reads on Earth Author Series, by PRI's Living On Earth with Julie Zickefoose and Saving Jemima at Mass Audubon's Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, 208 South Great Rd., Lincoln MA 01773. Includes audience participation, and will be taped for airing on public radio! Get the book first, read up and call (781) 259-2200 for information.

Thurs. May 21, 2020 6 pm: Julie Zickefoose, "Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay" at Bigelow Chapel, Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mt. Auburn St. Cambridge MA 02138. Call (617) 547-7105 for more info.

Eastern bluebirds are water freaks. They will bathe in almost any weather, like their cousins the robins. I love how they look in late fall, with their fresh plumage showing a glaucous, frosty sheen.

We are not the only ones who find bluebirds beautiful. They have a hard time bathing alone. It seems all a bluebird has to do is plop into the water to find himself surrounded by sycophants and admirers of every stripe and wingbar. These, winter-plumaged American goldfinches, and a house finch.

I have been watching bluebirds since 1981, and I can tell you that house finches are unnaturally attracted to them. If a bluebird is around, a house finch will follow it and try to copy what it's doing.

I have no explanation for this behavior, other than that they just seem to like bluebirds. I had a captive house finch in the studio for nine years. He had a mirror he loved to look into. Then I cut out and plasticized a photo of a bluebird, and that finch slept next to it, pecked it gently until it wore to white.

This little male house finch is trying to be subtle, but he's creepin' on the bathing beauty.

He makes his move, front and center. Hi. Having a bath?

Yes, Mr. Observant, I am bathing, and I'd thank you to give me a little elbow room here. You house finches have not had an original thought in your lives.

What? What? I'm just watching you. I'm not hurting anything. Why so cross?

You are annoying. Please leave.

(finch takes the not-so-subtle hint)

grumble

Phew. Creeper! Back to my bath.

22 comments:

Neat observations. No bluebirds in my garden as yet.

Posted by Dan Huber November 21, 2010 at 9:57 AM

Well, that explains why I get a half-dozen house finches when my lone male bluebird comes to tube feeder.

Posted by Karen November 21, 2010 at 10:08 AM

Creeper...perfect!
Mt. bluebirds long gone here, I had turkeys in my birdbath this morning, NOBODY creeps on them.

Posted by Caroline November 21, 2010 at 10:44 AM

Hilarious. Pretty patient, the bluebird - and the photographer.

Posted by Heather November 21, 2010 at 11:22 AM

I love your bird bath. Where did you find it?

Posted by Cynthia Nicole November 21, 2010 at 11:26 AM

My birdbath froze over night! Time to plug it in. Definitely no bluebirds but lots of goldfinch.

Posted by Susan Ellis November 21, 2010 at 1:14 PM

I think the TSA needs to hire some house finches...

Posted by EmilyS November 21, 2010 at 4:51 PM

What a neat series of photos. The expression on the bluebird's face...priceless.

Posted by KGMom November 21, 2010 at 6:07 PM

Very funny! I love the bluebird's expressions, especially the one with the wide open mouth.

Posted by sweetbay November 21, 2010 at 9:32 PM

Love your stories so much...

Posted by Maria November 21, 2010 at 10:49 PM

WOW... such a neat sequence of photos! Love those bluebirds! I don't have a huge problem with house finches (love my upside down GOLDfinch feeder though) but man, those English Sparrows... I could do with a few dozen LESS!

Posted by Anonymous November 22, 2010 at 1:08 PM

Wonderful photos! That bird bath is to die for! I can see why it's popular!

Posted by Jayne November 22, 2010 at 1:38 PM

@Cynthia Nicole, it's getting a bit hard to find. You can Google "Magnificent Bird Spa" or find the Magnificent Bird Spa available here:

http://www.backyardgardener.com/gp/Vendors/Garden/Birds_Wild_Life/Bird_Baths/Magnificent_Bird_Spa.html

The photo of bathing bluebirds in the Spa that you'll see wherever it's advertised is mine! I take it in at first frost, as it is not weatherproof. Mine's showing a little wear and tear--probably time to get a new one. It gets hard use all spring and summer long here. Terrific attractant for woodland birds that don't eat seed, as well as feeder birds.

Posted by Julie Zickefoose November 22, 2010 at 1:54 PM

Bollocks--trying again to give you the URL:

http://www.backyardgardener.com/gp/
Vendors/Garden/Birds_Wild_Life/Bird_Baths/
Magnificent_Bird_Spa.html

Posted by Julie Zickefoose November 22, 2010 at 1:58 PM

AWWWW! That's all, AWWWW!

Posted by Murr Brewster November 23, 2010 at 12:15 AM

Love that expression! Great story.

Posted by Colleen November 23, 2010 at 4:52 AM

What an interesting observation. I'm going to keep my eyes open at our bird bath to see if this happens with the Western Bluebird and our local House Finches. I love their conversation!

Posted by Anonymous November 23, 2010 at 3:25 PM

Okay, I'm out to set up a winter bird bath close to my house (read warm photography spot).

Posted by Nellie from Beyond My Garden November 24, 2010 at 7:11 AM

I've made the same observations as you, and at times they agitate the bluebirds to the point that the blues turn on the finches and chase them off, if only temporarily. My female is building her second nest of the summer, the box is on a wooden power pole with a sizable butterfly bush at the base, and at times there are 8-10 finches hanging out in the bush, resting on the top of the house, and just being pests in general. They will sit on the powerlines next to the bluebirds, follow them to the ground when the blues are homing in on a bug, landing within a foot of them and waiting for the blue to subdue the cricket or whatever hapless insect it is, then following them to the driveway where the blue pounds the bug to death and then following them to their next perch.

Posted by Anonymous June 9, 2014 at 12:40 PM

Oh my God!!, such a neat read. Very uplifting post. Made my day. Love the great pictures and your great humor. I really enjoyed the post, I recently have had some house finches show up and want to build nests in all of my wife's hanging, potted plants. I was concerned with the bluebirds on the property as to whether or not they were going to be problematic for the bluebirds and compete for breeding ground. Doesn't seem that is going to be the case at all. Well good!!

Thanks for helping me out with your post. funny and informative

Posted by Anonymous May 13, 2017 at 4:40 PM

For the past three days, I've seen bluebirds around my house (in a town in SE Pennsylvania). This is a first - I had never before seen them here. This morning as I looked out the attic window the bluebirds were in an oak tree, then a dogwood, then a locust. I noticed a finch near them. So I googled finches and bluebirds and found your post. Thank you for this insight into their relationship. (I contacted a birder frend yesterday, who said she'd heard from others about this influx of bluebirds in this area).

Posted by Unknown January 19, 2021 at 8:08 AM