Date: 5/6/26 8:32 am From: anneboby <00000038cbe79a41-dmarc-request...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Agonistic behavior in purple finches
Perhaps the combatants you observed were second-year males, not females. Purple Finch males do not acquiretheir "purple" (if one can call it that) plumage until their molt in Jul-Oct of their second year. Prior to that molt, a brown Purple Finch at this time of year can be either a female of any age or a second-year male. Oddly, this plumage sequence does not occur in the closely related House Finch where males turn red during their first-year molt.
Bob Yunick
Schenectady, NY On Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 08:09:09 AM EDT, Michael Haas <ihateokra88...> wrote:
Yesterday, while seated on the deck of my cabin at the border of meadow and
woodland, I observed two female purple finches displaying agonistic
behavior. They faced off among the low branches of red maples just above a
feeder that was situated below. Both had visited the feeder, separately,
prior to their interaction, but then, over the course of 10 to 15 minutes,
they confronted one another on the branches above. Each displayed
agonistic postures well-described in Cornell's "Birds of the World."
Intermittently, one assumed a head high, pecking down posture, her opponent
took a squatting stance, tail splayed, head facing up, beak gaping. The
skirmish, as I said, went on for a while, as they flitted among the
branches. Occasionally a third female entered the fray. It is interesting
to me that only females were involved; no male was in sight. I
surmise they were competing for a nesting site or access to the feeder.
