Friday, June 19, 2020

House Finches

HOUSE FINCHES, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, MAY 28, 2020

Pentax K-3
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 with 1.4x Pentax extender (420mm)
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 1600

The house finch, abundant across North America, has an interesting history. It is native to the American Southwest. New York City pet shop owners, who had been selling them illegally, released their birds en masse in 1940 to avoid prosecution, and now they're everywhere. All house finches east of the Great Plains are descended from those New York birds.
As soon as I snapped this photo, the female in the background chased the male away and took over.

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