Cassin's Finch

About the Cassin's Finch

Cassin's Finch is the mountain cousin of the familiar House Finch and Purple Finch. It breeds in open pine and fir forest in the high mountains of the West, and it is the finch of the high country, often seen feeding on buds high in a conifer or on the ground under the trees.

Males are washed with a rosy pink, brightest on a peaked crimson crown that contrasts with a brown neck and back. Females and young birds are brown and white with crisp, fine streaks below, and they can be hard to separate from female Purple Finch. Good marks are the longer, straight-edged bill, the fine dark streaks on the undertail coverts, and the slightly crested look of the head.

In Texas, Cassin's Finch is a rare and irregular winter visitor. In most years only a few reach the state, mostly in the Guadalupe and Davis Mountains and in the Panhandle. In some winters, when seed and cone crops fail farther north and west, more birds move south and they show up in larger numbers.

These photos were taken at Frijole Ranch in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in late October 2026. The species has declined across much of its range, so it is listed as a bird of conservation concern even though it is still widespread.