6 wondrous finches to spot this winter

The striking evening grosbeak is a splash of sunshine on a gloomy day. The males are bright yellow and black with white wings, and while the females are slightly more subdued, both have an unmissable, enormous bill, perfectly engineered for cracking open nuts and seeds.

With a raspberry-red body and greyish back, the adult male pine grosbeak is stunning. The female is less flashy, but has an equally gorgeous golden head. A large finch, pine grosbeaks have a thick, stubby bill for crushing seeds.

The spectacular crisscrossed bill on both the red and white-winged crossbill (pictured) is remarkably adapted to extract seeds from spruce, pine, and other conifer cones that haven’t yet opened. Medium-sized finches, both crossbills are reddish, while the females are yellowish; the white-winged crossbills have two white wing bars.

Roger Tory Peterson famously described the purple finch as a “sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.” The female is slightly less glamorous, more brown with bold stripes.

A small finch with a short bill, the redpoll has a bold red spot on its forehead, brownish streaked back and sides, and a white belly. Nothing short of miraculous, redpolls are astoundingly hardy: they can survive temperatures down to -50 degrees Celsius and often burrow in snow tunnels to keep warm.

These small finches often socialize with American goldfinches. Pine siskins are brownish, streaky, sparrow-like birds with pointy bills and bright yellow markings on their wings and tails.