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Tom Murray A male house finch in Groton on Nov. 22, 2022.

House finches ( Haemorhous mexicanus ) are small songbirds. Males have rosy red heads and chests, while females are brownish. These birds are native to the American southwest and Mexico but are common in our region today.

Back in the 1930s, California bird dealers trapped and shipped thousands of house finches to Eastern states illegally at the wholesale price of $35 per 100 birds. Pet stores sold these birds as “Hollywood finches” or “California linnets.” People liked to keep the male birds as pets because of their colorful plumage, their cheery, twittering song and their

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