14 Types of Finches Found in Oregon! (ID Guide)
What kinds of finches can you find in Oregon?
Finches are incredibly beautiful birds and a lot of fun to see in your backyard.
Luckily, almost all of them visit bird feeders, so you have a good chance of attracting multiple types of finches to your yard. If you’re lucky, you may even see a finch at my bird feeding station right now! I have a LIVE high-definition camera watching my bird feeders 24/7. 🙂
14 types of finches in Oregon:
Below you will learn more about each species AND how to identify them by sight OR sound. Make sure to pay attention to the range maps to see which finches live near you!
#1. American Goldfinch
- Spinus tristis
Identifying Characteristics:
- In summer, males are a vivid yellow with a black cap and black wings. Females are a duller yellow without a black cap.
- In winter, both sexes look the same and turn a pale brown/olive color. They’re identified by their black wings and white wing bar.
These small and colorful finches are relatively common in Oregon.
And luckily, American Goldfinches are relatively easy to attract to bird feeders! Try offering their favorite foods, sunflower kernels and Nyjer seed, which many other birds don’t eat.
It’s also helpful to include bird feeders specially designed for goldfinches. These small birds are easily scared off by larger “bullies.” They’ll appreciate having places that only they can use! I like the fact they can feed in any position, even upside down.
American Goldfinch Range Map
American Goldfinches are strict vegetarians. Their diet is exclusively made of seeds with no insects, which is rare in the bird world. So naturally, they feast on seeds from asters, thistles, sunflowers, grasses, and many types of trees.
Because of their diet, American Goldfinches breed later than other birds. They wait until June or July, when most plants are in full seed production, ensuring there’s enough food for them to feed their babies.
To identify them by sound, listen for a pretty series of musical trills and warbles.
#2. House Finch
- Haemorhous mexicanus
Identifying Characteristics:
- Males are rosy red around their heads and upper breasts. They have brown streaks on their back, tail, and belly.
- Females are brown with streaks on their back, tail, and belly.
- Both sexes have notched tails and conical beaks designed to eat seeds.
It’s common to see House Finches in Oregon near people.
Look for them around buildings, backyards, parks, and other urban and suburban areas.
House Finch Range Map
In fact, House Finches are often the first birds to discover new bird feeders. These birds are intensely curious and rarely travel alone, so their arrival often helps other birds find your feeders too! I see them eating sunflower seed, Nyjer seed, and safflower in my yard.
House Finches have an enjoyable song, which can be heard year-round. Listen below to a series of jumbled, warbled notes.
#3. Pine Siskin
- Spinus pinus
Identifying Characteristics:
- Both sexes are small, brown, and streaked with fine yellow edging on their wings and tails.
- Sharply pointed bill and a short, forked tail and long pointed wingtips.
- The only finch in Oregon where males and females look the same.
Pine Siskins are social and search for food in flocks while chirping nonstop to each other. They don’t even stop chattering when flying!
Pine Siskin Range Map
Pine Siskins feed at backyard feeders generally in the winter. They prefer to eat smaller seeds without tough shells, such as sunflower or Nyjer seeds.
Pine Siskins are typically found in mixed evergreen or deciduous forests, but they will move to a new place in search of food, like weedy fields, backyards, or gardens.
Listen below to Pine Siskin’s song, a twittering warble that rises and falls in pitch. They randomly throw in a “ZZZzzzzzreeee” that rises in pitch ever so often. You will notice they sound more wheezy than other finches in Oregon.

#4. Evening Grosbeak
- Coccothraustes vespertinus
Identifying Characteristics:
- Both sexes have a large, thick, conical beak and are the size of an American Robin.
- Males are yellow and black with a prominent white patch in the wings and a bright yellow stripe over the eye.
- Females are mostly gray with white and black wings and a greenish-yellow tinge on their neck and sides.
Evening Grosbeaks are one of the largest finches in Oregon.
Typically, they are found in the northern coniferous forests, and in winter, they can be found pretty much anywhere as they search for food.
Evening Grosbeaks are known for their large and strong bill. They use these bills to crack open large seeds that other birds are unable to open.
Evening Grosbeak Range Map
In fact, these finches will show up at feeders far south of their normal winter range, which provides a treat for backyard birders. You can attract them with sunflower seeds placed onto a large platform feeder, which gives these birds ample room to land and eat.
Evening Grosbeaks are one of the few finches in Oregon without a song. But they do have some simple calls, including sweet, piercing notes and burry chirps, which you can hear below!

#5. Red Crossbill
- Loxia curvirostra
Identifying Characteristics:
- Sparrow-sized. Look for their distinctive crisscrossed bills (which means the upper and lower tips of their beak don’t align; they cross, like crossing your fingers.)
- Males are red overall with darker brownish-red wings and white wing bars.
- Females are full-bodied and yellowish with dark unmarked wings.
As their name suggests, Red Crossbills have crisscrossed bills, similar to if you cross your fingers. They adapted these oddly shaped bills to help them break into tightly closed cones, giving them an advantage over other finch species in Oregon.
They’re found in large coniferous forests during their breeding season, especially spruce, pine, Douglas-fir, hemlock, or larch with recent cone crops. But in winter, they wander wherever they need to go to find food. While not incredibly common, they will sometimes visit bird feeders and eat sunflower seeds.
Red Crossbill Range Map
Red Crossbills are highly dependent on conifer seeds. In fact, they even feed them to their babies instead of insects like most other songbirds. These finches typically breed in late summer but can actually breed any time during the year if a large enough cone crop is available.
Males sing a variably sweet warble, which sounds like “chipa-chipa-chipa, chee-chee-chee.“ Females rarely sing, but they have call notes that are sharp and metallic.

#6. Purple Finch
- Haemorhous purpureus
Identifying Characteristics:
- Small, with a conical seed-eating bill.
- Males have a raspberry red head, breast, and back.
- Females have prominent streaks of white and brown below, with strong facial markings, including a whitish eyebrow and a dark line down the side of the throat.
Male Purple Finches are beautiful and described as looking like they were dipped in raspberry juice.
Purple Finches use their big beaks and tongues to crush seeds and extract the nut. This is good news because they’ll also visit bird feeders! Your best chance to attract them is using black-oil sunflower seeds. Having conifer trees in your yard is also a great way to encourage these finches to visit.
Purple Finch Range Map
Purple Finches can be challenging to identify because they look incredibly similar to the more common House Finch. I’ve made this mistake many times, believing that I saw a Purple Finch when it was, in fact, just another House Finch. To tell them apart, look at their back. The Purple Finch’s back has red coloring, while the back of a House Finch has none.
Similar to other finches in Oregon, males sing a rich, musical warble. Listen below!
#7. Blue Grosbeak
- Passerina caerulea
Identifying Characteristics:
- Stocky finch with a huge, triangular bill.
- Males are deep, rich blue with a tiny black mask in front of the eyes, chestnut wing bars, and a black and silver beak.
- Females are primarily cinnamon-brown. The color is richer on the head, paler on the underparts; their tails are bluish.
Blue Grosbeaks like seeds and grains at bird feeders in shrubby backyards because they feel more protected. You’ll typically hear them singing before you see them.
Blue Grosbeaks Range Map
Blue Grosbeaks are very shy, especially around humans, which makes them very difficult to observe. Interestingly, both males and females have a weird habit of twitching their tails sideways, although the reason for this behavior is unknown.
Blue Grosbeaks have also been known to “sidle,” where they walk sideways along branches, as seen in parrots.
Listen below as the male Blue Grosbeak sings a musical warble that lasts for 2 or 3 seconds.

#8. Black-headed Grosbeak
- Pheucticus melanocephalus
Identifying Characteristics:
- Both sexes have large heads, thick beaks, short and thick necks, and a short tail that gives them a compact, chunky look.
- Males are an orange-cinnamon color with a black head and black and white wings.
- Females and immature males have grayish bills and flash bright yellow under the wings when flying.
Black-headed Grosbeaks like to hide in thick foliage and are known to hop around while searching for food. Their giant beaks are perfectly adapted for cracking seeds, but they also use them to crush hard-bodied invertebrates like snails!
Black-headed Grosbeak Range Map
Like other finches in Oregon, you can attract Black-headed Grosbeaks by providing sunflower seeds. But interestingly, this species has a sweet tooth and is also known to visit nectar feeders! They will nest in your backyard and garden if there’s enough cover and water nearby.
Both male and female Black-headed Grosbeaks sing. The female song is not as long and not as loud, and she sings less than the male. The males sing a rich song with high-pitched notes from treetops. Listen below:

#9. Common Redpoll
- Acanthis flammea
Identifying Characteristics:
- Both sexes are small, white, and brown. Look for streaks on their sides and a small red patch on their forehead.
- Males have a pale red vest on the chest and upper flanks.
Redpolls visit backyard bird feeders, especially during the winter. Due to their small bill size, they prefer eating small seeds like Nyjer (thistle) and shelled sunflower when visiting feeders.
Common Redpoll Range Map
Like many finches in Oregon, Common Redpolls have a rollercoaster-like flying style.
Redpolls travel in flocks of up to several hundred birds. They move very fast, gathering seeds in weedy fields or small trees one minute and swirling away in a mass of chattering birds the next.
Listen below to the Redpoll song, a combination of single or repeated calls (“chit-chit-chit-chit”). Their call notes are a whistle that sounds like “swee-ee-eet.”
These finches travel great distances and can turn up almost anywhere! For example, one bird banded in Michigan showed up in Siberia. Another one in Belgium was found again in China!
#10. White-winged Crossbill
- Loxia leucoptera
Identifying Characteristics:
- Crisscrossed bills, used to separate pine cone scales to access the seeds.
- Males are rose-pink with black wings and tails. Look for two white lines of contrasting color across the middle of the wing.
- Females and young males are yellowish but with the same wing and tail pattern as the adult males.
White-winged Crossbills get their name from the shape of their bill! These finches evolved these unique beaks to open up pine cones so that they can eat the seeds inside.
Individual White-winged Crossbills can eat up to 3,000 conifer seeds each day.
In fact, some people can locate crossbills by hearing them crunching while opening cones in the trees.
White-winged Crossbill Range Map
You can sometimes attract these finches to backyard feeders in Oregon by offering hulled sunflower seeds.
Both sexes sing a mixture of vigorous and scattered chirps, warbles, and rattles. Listen below!
#11. Pine Grosbeak
- Pinicola enucleator
Identifying Characteristics:
- Large, plump finches. Look for dark gray wings with two white lines across the middle.
- Males are reddish-pink and gray.
- Females and young males are grayish with tints of reddish-orange or yellow on the head and rump.
Pine Grosbeaks are one of the largest finches in Oregon!
If one lands on your feeders, they are typically easy to identify since they’re bigger than most other birds.
Pine Grosbeaks frequently visit feeders, especially during the winter. If you want to attract them, try using a hopper or platform feeder because of the bird’s larger size. Fill the feeders with sunflower seeds.
Pine Grossbeak Range Map
Pine Grosbeaks are relatively easy to find and see due to their slow-moving (some people call sluggish) behavior. In addition, they’re relatively tame and don’t scare easily.
Male Pine Grosbeaks sing a high-pitched warble that goes up and down. Listen below! Females don’t sing very often.

#12. Lesser Goldfinch
- Spinus psaltria
Identifying Characteristics:
- Males are bright yellow below with a glossy black cap and white patches in the wings; black tail and backs can be glossy black or sometimes dull green.
- Females and young males have olive backs, dull yellow underparts, and black wings marked by two whitish bars on the wings.
The Lesser Goldfinch is one of the smallest finches in Oregon.
Look for these birds gathered in large groups that can number up to several hundred individuals. When flying, they have the same roller coaster style flight as the American Goldfinch.
Lesser Goldfinch Range Map
Lesser Goldfinches are often found in the suburbs, where they are common visitors to feeders. These small finches eat sunflower seeds, along with the thin-hulled seeds of Nyjer/thistle.
The male’s song is a rapid medley of twittering notes, lasting up to 10 seconds.
#13. Black Rosy-Finch
- Leucosticte atrata
Identifying Characteristics:
- Medium-sized and chunky finches, with a conical bill and a notched tail.
- Males are brownish and have some pink highlights and a yellow bill.
- Females are blackish overall with pink highlights on the wings and lower belly and a gray crown. They have a black bill.
Black Rosy-Finches are incredibly unique birds. To find them in summer, you’ll need to head above the tree line. They nest on the sides of cliffs and other mountainous areas where few people ever travel.
Black Rosy-Finch Range Map
In winter, they come down from the mountains a bit to escape the cold. They form large flocks and roost together in caves, mineshafts, and inside barns.
Black Rosy-Finches will even visit bird feeders in Oregon during winter! To attract them, try offering sunflower and Nyjer seeds on platform feeders or scattering them on the ground.
Black Rosy-Finches do not have a song, but they give low cheep note calls.
#14. Cassin’s Finch
- Haemorhous cassinii
Identifying Characteristics:
- Small finches with short-medium tails, streaked feathers, and thick bills.
- Males are rosy pink all over with more red on top of their heads.
- Females and young Cassin’s Finches are brown and white birds with dark streaks on the chest and underparts.
Male Cassin’s get the red on the top of their head from eating colorful foods like the orange berries of firethorn plants.
Cassin’s Finch Range Map
Cassin’s Finches visit feeders in the winter that provide sunflower seeds. They also like shrubs with fruit such as mulberry, firethorn, or grape bushes. Interestingly, they crave salt and are often found visiting deposits of minerals on the ground.
Their songs tend to imitate other birds, and both males and females sing. Listen below as a male Cassin’s Finch sings a joyful song with a quick series of short sounds.
Which of these finches have you seen before in Oregon?
Leave a comment below!