The Finches Are Watching You (So Please Wash the Feeder)
They’re back. They’ve got opinions. And they’re a little crusty.
I’ve always had a soft spot for birds that feel a little… scrappy. Chickadees with bedhead. Grackles who strut like they own the patio furniture. And House Finches? They’re the red-headed regulars at the backyard buffet — and they’ve been through some things.
I didn’t know this until recently, but House Finches nearly got wiped out by a gnarly eye disease that left them blind—literally. Swollen, red, sealed-shut eyes. It’s called Mycoplasmal conjunctivitis (aka House Finch Eye Disease), and it swept through the Eastern U.S. in the ‘90s like an avian horror flick.
Spoiler alert: they’re still here. But they could use our help.
How House Finches Became Urban Legends
Let’s rewind. These finches weren’t even supposed to be here.
They’re native to the West — desert birds, mostly — but thanks to an illegal pet trade in the 1940s (yes, really), a bunch of finches were released in New York after people freaked out about getting caught. A few dozen survived, bred like feathery champs, and by the ’90s, House Finches had taken over the East Coast and were pushing back west to meet their OG desert cousins.
Basically, House Finches are tough. Charming. Undefeated.
And then… they started going blind.
The Disease That Tried to Take Them Out
Around 1994, bird watchers in Maryland started seeing finches with red, crusty eyes — so swollen some birds couldn’t see. That’s a death sentence in the wild.
Turns out, the birds had caught Mycoplasma gallisepticum, a bacterium that normally hangs out in poultry barns, causing respiratory infections in chickens and turkeys. Somehow, it jumped to finches — and instead of lungs, it went straight for their eyes.
Within two years, it spread across the Eastern U.S. and into Canada. No vaccine. No cure. Just a lot of sad-eyed birds and a growing pile of questions.
Enter: Backyard Science Heroes
This outbreak came at the perfect (and terrible) time to become a massive citizen science project.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch mailed out paper forms — this was the ’90s, remember — asking bird lovers to report what they saw. Over a decade, 10,000+ volunteers submitted hundreds of thousands of reports, helping scientists track the disease’s spread in real-time.
Despite the odds, House Finches pulled off a comeback. Some built up resistance. Others dodged the worst of it. And thanks to thousands of backyard birders paying attention, scientists were able to track the outbreak, learn from it, and help us all do better.
The House Finches are not bulletproof, but they’re bouncing back. And today, they are not only holding on—they’re thriving in yards across the country. With a little help from clean feeders and observant humans, they’ve gone from almost-out to “Hey, are those guys judging my suet again?”
Today, House Finches are listed as a species of Least Concern — but they’re not totally in the clear. That’s where we come in.
Field Tip: How to Keep Your Feeders Finch-Friendly
Here’s what you can do to help keep House Finches (and other birds) healthy:
Clean your feeders at least monthly
Use a 9:1 water-to-bleach solution
Dismantle the whole thing if possible
Rinse and dry completely before refilling
Spread them out
Give birds space to feed without crowding
Think “al fresco cafe,” not “Black Friday buffet”
Rake underneath
Clear old seeds and poop to avoid mold + bacteria build-up
Spot a sick bird?
Take down feeders for a few days
Let the sick birds disperse before refilling
Report what you see to Project FeederWatch
Why It Matters
This isn’t just about House Finches. Birds that use backyard feeders — Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, Evening Grosbeaks — can all pick up this disease. And the more we crowd them together with dirty feeders, the more we increase the risk.
But the good news?
You don’t need a PhD or a nature preserve to help. You just need a scrub brush, a backyard, and some bird-watching curiosity.
