<< Back 7/3/02 The Naturalist's Corner By Don Hendershot People have often asked me how the Smoky Mountain News finds out about all the stuff it reports on. Well, from watching the activity in front of the Smoky Mountain News, on Church Street, it looks like someone has found us out. One lady was seen repeatedly at our blue box last week, ostensibly taking papers. But as we are a weekly, it didn’t make since that the same person would come day after day to get the same paper. As we observed her it became evident that she was scoping out the hanging basket in front of our office. The basket is the key to our four-county coverage. We are currently fledging our newest corps of “news birds.” If you keep an eye on the hanging basket for any period of time it is likely you will see an adult house finch come in and quickly dole out food to four very hungry chicks. Both the male and female house finch share in this duty. The house finch is a sparrow-sized bird (5-6 inches). The female is brown above and brown streaked below. The male has a bright rosy-red to reddish-orange throat, chest, rump and eye-stripe. Otherwise it is brown above and streaked below. House finches are endemic to North America but were originally found only in the western region from Canada to Mexico and eastward to Nebraska and Texas. House finches were introduced to the east, in Long Island, N.Y., in 1940. Legend has it, they were introduced by pet-bird dealers. But those in the newspaper business know better. House finches are perfect news hounds because they thrive around human habitation. Eastern populations are found almost exclusively in places where buildings and lawns exist. The house finch has quickly expanded its range in the east since its introduction in 1940. It ranges year-round from southeastern Canada to Georgia and winters farther south in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. It has expanded westward to Wisconsin and Michigan. The first nesting record in North Carolina is 1975, from Charlotte. This eastern population is more migratory than the western, but migration is confusing because there is so much overlap with resident populations. Bill Hilton Jr., a South Carolina bird-bander and director of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History, has been banding house finches since 1982. One winter-banded finch from Hilton Pond was recovered on nesting grounds in North Carolina, only 100 miles northeast of the banding site. Others have been recorded from as far away as Massachusetts. House finches are early nesters and some pairs may produce three clutches a year. The female is the primary nest builder and she does all the incubating. House finches lay between three and six bluish or greenish-white eggs. The eggs will hatch in about two weeks. Both adults feed the young. The young will leave the nest in about two more weeks. The red color in the male house finch appears to be directly proportional to the amount of carotene (red and yellow pigments) found in their food. Female finches appear to show a preference for redder males. Our “news bird” fledglings are about ready to fly the coup. This reporting gene seems to be innate in house finches. It is similar to the homing trait in homing pigeons. I could tell you how the information is transferred from finch to human — but then I would have to kill you. Just be wary the next time you enter a public building or stop on a street corner somewhere to discuss politics with your cronies. Look for any small sparrow-type bird that looks as if it has been dipped in strawberry juice and listen for any loud musical warble coming from nearby trees. (Don Hendershot can be reached at don@smokymountainnews.com)