Tuesday, November 10, 2015

BC FIRST: ORIENTAL GREENFINCH in Victoria, Nov. 9th

On November 9th Geoffrey Newell found a finch near the corner of Beach Dr. and Newport Ave. at the Victoria Golf Course at 12:00 pm. The bird was reported to be very vocal, calling from a tree top and roof top. Initially identified as a Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, photos that were subsequently posted appear to show an Oriental Greenfinch.

The call heard was described as a "rather soft, yet slightly husky, and obviously finch-like chortle, somewhat like 'prech prech prech' with 3-4 notes together".

The bird was not found during searches on Nov. 11th.


Two photos were obtained. The bottom picture here is a crop of one of these photos.
Photos: Geoffrey Newell


There are six subspecies of Oriental Greenfinch. Only one, C. s. kawarahiba, is generally considered to be able to vagrate to North America owing to its breeding range and migratory habits. Although the photo is poor, the deep chestnut breast and perhaps head pattern seem to fit this subspecies.

This bird was confirmed by the BC Bird Records Commitee as the first confirmed record for the province of British Columbia.


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