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Finches and Buntings

From sociable finches to colorful buntings, these beautiful backyard birds can be seen across North America. Learn about the types of finches and buntings you can spot in your area, and find out how to attract them.

A male purple finch sitting on a snowy branch in winter.

How to Attract and Identify Purple Finches

Attracting a purple finch is easy with the right food, but identifying them can be tricky! Here's the best way to draw these colorful birds into your yard.

How to Attract and Identify Pine Siskins

When pine siskins visit backyards, they come in droves. These hungry and feisty finches love...

The Best Bird Feeders and Birdseed for Cardinals

Cardinals are beloved backyard birds. Fill tube and platform bird feeders with their favorite types...

All About Painted Buntings

You have to see this prismatic feeder bird to believe it.

Meet the Towhees: The Birds Scratching Up a Storm in your Backyard

Look down! That noise under your shrubs is a shy, ground-feeding towhee in search of...

Meet the 3 Kinds of Goldfinches in the United States

In the United States, there are three species of goldfinches. Learn what they look like...

In Search of a Painted Bunting

Painted Buntings make just about every birder's life list. My quest to see one was...

Learn to Identify and Attract Indigo Buntings

The indigo bunting is one of the most gorgeous summer birds in the East. Learn...

Spotted Towhee

Once grouped with its eastern counterpart in a species called the rufous-sided towhee, the Spotted...

Scarlet Tanager

The Scarlet Tanager devours many destructive caterpillars and wood-boring beetles, most often but not exclusively...

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

Though the female usually builds the nest, some pairs share the work, and both incubate....

Purple Finch

In late summer, the Purple Finch begins to molt, and in winter plumage, a male’s...

Pine Siskin

Prone to irruptions in wintertime, Pine Siskins are cute little nomads whose range spans throughout...

Indigo Bunting

During the breeding season, pairs of Indigo Buntings and other avian species often feed and...

House Finch

A western species until the 1940s, the House Finch was introduced to the East Coast...

Evening Grosbeak

In winter, Evening Grosbeaks wander in flocks. Their travels are unpredictable, but they may show...

Eastern Towhee

When you’re watching for this songbird, look out below. The Eastern Towhee spends most of...

Black-Headed Grosbeak

In the spring in the West, fill a feeder with sunflower seeds (in the shell...

American Goldfinch

The American Goldfinch is one of the last songbirds to breed each summer. By the...