Name that finch!

Whether it be truth or myth, there is an expression in many Galapagos field guides: "It is only a very wise man or a fool who thinks that he is able to identify all the finches which he sees." (From: http://people.rit.edu/rhrsbi/GalapagosPages/DarwinFinch.html) - actual source is Michael Harris' field guide. This is so very true. The small and medium ground finches can usually be discerned easily in some field sites, but in others…boy there can be overlapping distributions. Same can be said for the medium compared to the large ground finch. Here is a little visitor to our porch, looking to me like a juvenile medium ground finch (hopefully the finch mafia isn't following my blog in case I've mis-identified this one!):