House finches...to love them or to hate them? Here's the story. They are native to Mexico and the Western United States, but were brought into the NYC area as cage birds in the 1930's. When pet stores found out they were a protected species (almost all passerines are), they released them, and the released birds began to breed. From those few dozen birds, the population of house finches in the northeastern states grew to over 10 million, and they began to spread southward. The first accepted record of one appearing in Florida was in 1983. The birds now breed as far south as Tampa and Lakeland, with some isolated colonies appearing even farther south. The malel house finch's color can vary from yellow to red, with the females seeming to prefer the reddest males. So...they don't really belong here, but they sure are pretty, and I suspect there is not one thing we can do about them being here, so we may as well enjoy them. Great pictures, Kara! Thanks for sharing! Marcia

SCG, maybe you don't have much snow cover where you are? If you do have good snow, cats shouldn't be an issue if you locate the feeder in an open area, hanging from a tree. Even the ground feeding birds will spot any cat long before it gets near and will fly up into the tree until the cat leaves. And in my experience cats don't like going out in the snow and cold anyway. Just remember to remove the feeder when the snow is gone and the weather warms.

Lovely shot. I really enjoy watching the house finches at our feeders. Until I put out the feeders in July, we hardly saw any house finches on the street. But now there's at least one family of five birds and a second male that I often see. Dave

Hi Lisa, I really know nothing about bird illness. The only thing I could think of was the relatively sudden change of air temperature (it's been the same here in Massachusetts - unseasonably COLD - but I bet it's even colder where you are). I did read that sudden changes in air temperature can affect birds' energy levels (a study done in Scotland). But I don't know whether the way your bird looks could be explained by something like that. Our birds here are still pretty lively and doing the usual things. Is the bird eating or drinking? Is it losing feathers? I wish that I could be more helpful. Would the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site have information? They seem to be a good place to refer to. Best of luck, I know you care so much about the birds.