Tis the season to look up at an ocotillo plant and find a small red and brown bird with an ocotillo flower in its mouth. This is the House Finch, Haemorhous mexicanus.
You may have heard that these creatures are recent imports, but that’s only true if you live in the eastern United States. Unlike many other U.S.animal arrivals, they are not native to Asia or Europe, but to the western U.S. and Mexico.
They took an uncommon journey to get the east—they were imported decades ago to Long Island by dealers who had the idea of selling these cheerful little folks. But either people were not buying, or somehow the birds escaped, and soon had a great time spreading all over the east coast. Now they have the curious distribution of heavy populations along the eastern US, and the western side of the continent, but have only recently converged toward the Mississippi.
Maybe they were avoiding riverboats?
In any case, look for these lively birds around feeders, and, way back west, in blossoming ocotillos.
Desert Mysteries Weblog 
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