What comes to your mind when you hear the word Finch? Maybe you think about Finch County in New South Wales, Australia,

or perhaps you remember Finch, the Dutch progressive hard rock band from the 1970s. Or what about Atticus Finch,

the fictional lawyer from the novel to kill a mockingbird. And, hey, speaking of birds,

just maybe the word finch conjures up images of small energetic songbirds that flit around in your

garden. I hope the latter is the case, because we're about to embark on an exploration of birds we call finches.

Some of them, anyway.

If you were hoping to listen to a podcast episode about progressive rock music from the Netherlands,

you're in the wrong place. Sorry.

As for birds, I'm guessing you know a little something about gold finches, house finches, zebra finches,

chafinches, or Darwin's finches. I must warn you, however, that this word, finch, like the word

sparrow, has been thrown around rather haphazardly in the naming of birds. Today we're focusing on one bird family, fringility.

The birds in this group are what ornithologists call the true finches. Or as our German friends

call them, I can't clickinfinchen, meaning the proper or actual finches, or as I like to think of them, the legit

finches.

This family of legit or true finches does include those goldfinches, chaff finches, and house finches.

But there are many other birds we call finches that are not members of this family.

Furthermore, the family fringility includes a bunch of birds that don't have the word

finch in their name. These include Siskins, Euphonias, Canaries, Red Poles, Crossbills, and

more.

Let's see if we can shed a little light on who is and who isn't a true finch.

More importantly, let's explore the characteristics of true finches and why these birds are so very excellent.

Hello and welcome.

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