I recently did a double-take glancing at my fly-through feeder. Mixed in with the usual visitors was what appeared to be a house finch, but upon closer examination, it turned out to be the less common purple finch. It was a pleasant surprise that got me thinking about both species.

I am told purple finch were once common at feeders, but as far as I can remember, the only abundant finch in town were house finch. Long before I was born, some enterprising soul had the great idea of capturing and selling the colorful house finch. They were popular pets for rich and famous movie stars.

They were called "Hollywood finch," and soon this western species was brought east to fill the New York City pet stores. It was a good seller until 1940, when it became illegal to capture and sell wild birds. During that year, pet store owners set their birds free and thereby introduced the species to the East. Not long after that, reports began to surface of a strange red-headed sparrow-like bird frequenting shade trees on Long Island.

From 1941 until 1947, people claimed to see these birds at various locations on the island, and then in 1948, a specimen taken in Hewlette, Nassua County, confirmed what the public had been asserting all along. This bird, the first specimen of a free ranging wild eastern house finch, remains in mounted form in the American Museum of Natural History.

It didn't take long for the species to propagate and move off the Island. By the early 1970s, the finch was one of the most abundant birds at back yard feeders in Connecticut. However, the arrival of this formerly western bird into the Northeast was not without impact. The similarly appearing purple finch was subsequently displaced to the rural forests that house finch avoid.

Although house finch numbers plummeted in the early 1990s because of a disease known as Mycoplasmal conjunctivitis, purple finch remain uncommon in New London County and other developed area. It was thought that after the die off, purple finch might return, but their absence must have additional explanations. Today, one must still venture into the back-country to readily find purple finch.

Locally, they are more common from late September through mid-December and are less likely a wintering or nesting species. You might find them near weedy fields and forested parks in semi-rural towns such as Lebanon or Colchester, but I recommend Hartman Park, White Memorial Sanctuary, Nepaug Reservoir and Mohawk State Forest for better odds. Generally, the purple finch is one of those birds you just seem to encounter by luck.

When I spotted that purple finch at my feeder, it reminded me of a late afternoon hike far from the suburbs in northern Vermont. I was making my way along a dusty logging road when two male purple finch landed a few steps ahead of me.  Their plumage was brilliant red, and it appeared as if they had been stained by ripe raspberries. I don't know how long I stood dazzled before them, but this simple sighting of an ordinary bird left a lasting impression. Perhaps someday the purple finch will return to the suburbs.

rtougias@snet.net