Species Spotlight

Species Spotlight: House Finch

September 18, 2026 by Kai Pflug No Comments

Like several other birds in my recent Maine series, the House Finch is described as “one of North America’s best studied birds” (HBW). Fair enough. Unfortunately, its species profile is also dedicated to a member of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Administrative Board (Scott Edwards). I think these people should feel a bit ashamed of themselves. Or perhaps ask FIFA for a Peace Prize as well.

Its historic distribution is interesting (at least to me—most US birders have probably heard the story too many times already). Originally, the species was restricted to the arid Southwest of North America; today it can be found almost anywhere in the US, partly thanks to the release of a few birds in New York in 1939. Maybe some New York resident wanted to make sure that all birds mentioned in Steinbeck novels could also be found on the East Coast.

For once, I completely agree that the question listed under “Priorities for Future Research” in the HBW profile is genuinely exciting: “Why has this species, well-adapted to an extreme desert environment of sw. North America, undergone such an unprecedented expansion of its ecological and geographic range over the last 80 years?”

Given its current distribution, the scientific name Haemorhous mexicanus is somewhat misleading. I am sure the US president will get around to fixing this once he has dealt with a few smaller issues, such as inflation, affordability, and the war in Iran.

One paper introduced the term Avian Anthrophobia, making me wonder whether I might suffer from Human Anthrophobia instead. It turns out that rural House Finches are more stressed by people than urban ones. If that also applied to me, moving back from Shanghai to a village in Germany might actually increase my Human Anthrophobia.

Another paper reports that heavily disturbed urban birds are better at problem solving than heavily disturbed rural birds. That may well have something to do with the same underlying adaptation.

I am not sure whether referencing an Olivia Newton-John song in the title of an ornithological paper is a good idea. To me, it feels a bit cringeworthy. What do you think of this title?

Let’s get physiological: circulating vitamin A levels predict the presence and severity of coccidiosis infection in House Finches (Haemorhous mexicanus).

On the other hand, without those first three words, I probably would never have opened the paper. The downside is that I now have both Olivia Newton-John and Michael Scott singing “Let’s get ethical!” stuck in my head. Was it worth it?

Photos taken in Maine in June 2026

Written by Kai Pflug
Kai has lived in Shanghai for 22 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website. Alas, most of the photos are pretty average as well. He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.