House Finches

Hello, my name is Lily. I am studying House Finches. I chose these birds because I wanted to learn more about the animals living in my own backyard, as I had never particularly paid close attention to them in the past. I was also interested in seeing how they interacted with other types of birds that came to my bird feeder. I have been observing these small birds through a window in my house that looks out onto my backyard that contains a large plum tree with many branches (the bird feeder hangs here), a blackberry bush, and dirt ground covered in dried, fallen leaves. An interesting observation I made while watching the birds was that I noticed that the male finches especially seem to have very quick reflexes and constantly move their heads from side to side when other birds land on the feeder perches. Also, many finches simply come to the feeder, land on one of its perches, and don't eat any of the birdseed. I've also noted that the feathers of some male house finches are more red than others, and that often females and males do not directly interact (I would've expected them to!). A few things about me are that I love photography, gardening, going to art museums, seeing my favorite musicians perform, hiking, and thai food.