the purple finch (carpodacus purpureus) is a bird in the finch family fringillidae .
this species and the other "american rosefinches" were formerly included with the rosefinches of eurasia in the genus carpodacus; however , the three north american species are not closely related to the rosefinches of the old world , and have thus been moved to the genus haemorhous by most taxonomic authorities .
it is included in the finch family , fringillidae , which is made up of passerine birds found in the northern hemisphere , africa , and south america .
the purple finch was originally described by johann friedrich gmelin in 1789.there are two subspecies of the purple finch , h .
p .
purpureus and h .
p .
californicus .
h .
p .
californicus was identified by spencer f .
baird in 1858.[2] it differs from the nominate subspecies in that it has a longer tail and shorter wings .
the plumage of both males and females is darker , and the coloration of the females is more greenish .
the bill of c .
p .
californicus is also longer than that of the nominate subspecies .
adults have a short forked brown tail and brown wings and are about 15 cm (4 in) in length and weigh 34 g (1.2 oz) .
adult males are raspberry red on the head , breast , back and rump; their back is streaked .
adult females have light brown upperparts and white underparts with dark brown streaks throughout; they have a white line on the face above the eye .
their breeding habitat is coniferous and mixed forest in canada and the northeastern united states , as well as various wooded areas along the u .
s .
pacific coast .
they nest on a horizontal branch or in a fork of a tree .
{citation needed|date=january 2010}birds from northern canada migrate to the southern united states; other birds are permanent residents .
{citation needed|date=january 2010}the purple finch population has declined sharply in the east due to the house finch .
most of the time , when these two species collide , the house finch outcompetes the purple finch .
this bird has been also displaced from some habitat by the introduced house sparrow .
these birds forage in trees and bushes , sometimes in ground vegetation .
they mainly eat seeds , berries and insects .
they are fond of sunflower seeds , millet , and thistle .
this is the state bird of new hampshire .
