Rapid Range Expansion of the House Finch in Kansas

The house finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, was first documented in Kansas in 1882, when seven individuals were collected in a southwestern county. These birds apparently were only winter visitors. Subsequently, sightings increased in number and frequency and, in 1976, nesting was reported in northwestern Kansas. More recently, the species has been reported nesting throughout western Kansas and vagrants have been seen throughout much of the state, usually in winter. Winter sightings have been most frequent at feeding stations, where house finches seemingly are unaffected by potential competitors, such as the house sparrow, Passer domesticus. Winter feeding stations were surveyed in counties to the east of the known breeding range to locate potential nesting birds. These localities were monitored during the subsequent breeding season, and the current distributional status of the species was determined