House finch

The house finches started to arrive in larger numbers a few days ago, more than the first male / female pair. I have seen as many as four at time. 

The male is light brown with a reddish head and chest, the female is identical in shape, but without the red markings. As with several bird species, only the male is bright colored. Many  birds will come in twos, like the male and female cardinal, and the chickadees and titmice. The sparrows come in threes or fours, the woodpecker, by itself. The sight of the cardinal sends a quick, reliable push to the pleasure center of my brain. It is more spectacular in color, but also larger than the other feeder birds. 

One male finch was chasing the other off the feeder today.  (There is plenty of seed to go around.) These slender birds will defer to the beefier woodpecker. 

One way to think about it is to watch birds for a year: then all seasons are accounted for for the same habitats.