House Finch

I have been noticing these little birds around my house for years now and don't remember seeing them around Texas as I was growing up. I wondered for a long time what they were and it wasn't until this week that I finally looked it up.

From wikipedia:
The House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae. This species and the other "American rosefinches" are usually placed in the rosefinch genus Carpodacus.

These are cute little guys that go nuts over my bird feeder. Most are permanent residents and eat seeds and berries. The reason I don't remember seeing these little guys as I was growing up is that they are fairly new to our area. They have started migrating into this area in the 90s and now seem to make it their home.