Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Purple Finch ("eastern")
Scientific name:	Carpodacus purpureus
Date:	9/10/02-10/7/02
Time:
Length of time observed:	Observed: several hours overall
Number:	1
Age:	adult
Sex:	female
Location:	8 miles west of Escalante
County:	Garfield
Latilong:	37 44 N 111 43 W
Elevation:	6500'
Distance to bird:	10' to 50'
Optical equipment:	various 10x40 & 8x42 binoculars
Weather:	various
Light Conditions:	various
Detailed description of bird:	Bird_Description: see photos (not developed as of 11/11/02)
Song or call & method of delivery:	call-note heard (and seen) once: "a light, dry, slightly metallic pick" (Advanced Birding, p. 268)
Behavior:	very standoffish - seemed puzzled by other finch species - preferred to associate with me
Habitat:	mature pinyon-juniper - homesite with a single black-oil sunflower-seed hanging feeder and only water (dish) in area
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	Only Cassins Finch looks anything like this bird, unless one includes juvenile Red Crossbill, but that's a stretch. Since it looked like the Nat'l. Geog. illustration, I checked Sibley and was less sure. So, it is IDed with reference to Kaufman's Advanced Birding, pp. 268-271: call - purple, see above bill - "eastern" purple wing length - short, purple breast color - "pearly grayish white", purple breast streaks - "almost spotted", "eastern" purple face pattern - strong, purple malar stripe - "heavy, dark", purple auriculars/ear coverts - "heavy, dark", purple body shape (ill. p. 270) - even shorter, chunkier, blockier than purple illustrated undertail covert streaking - never saw undertail clearly upperparts tone - "browner", "eastern" purple upper back - you notice the light streaks first, not the dark ones, therefore purple "A Note on Juveniles" paragraph makes it purple on the off chance it's a juv Summary: On 12 comparisons, the bird is 12 to 0 a Purple Finch ("eastern" where there's a difference), with one comparison (undertail coverts) indeterminate.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	I always struggled with this ID in Colorado, but did finally ID Purple MALE there. I'm reasonably familiar with Purple Finch in coastal California.
References consulted:	National Geographic, Sibley and Kaufman as above
Description from:	Notes taken at time of sighting
Observer:	Jens Munthe
Observer's address:	P.O.Box 80, Escalante, UT 84726
Observer's e-mail address:	munthe@color-country.net
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	Kathy Munthe
Date prepared:	11/11/02 (Restricted)
Additional material:	Photo
Additional comments:	Well, it's on my list as Purple Finch, but please don't post this generally, especially since the bird is long gone and I can't submit the photos yet.