How House Finches ended up in New York is yet another quirky little chapter in bird history—and it all starts with a bit of rule-bending in the pet trade.
In the 1930s and early 1940s, House Finches were native only to the western United States and parts of Mexico. At that time, they were not present on the East Coast. But their pretty colors and sweet songs made them attractive to bird lovers. So, pet shop owners began capturing them in the Southwest and shipping them to pet stores in the East, especially around New York City.
Here’s the catch: under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, it was illegal to sell native wild birds as pets. But sellers didn’t want to stop, so they tried to work around the law by giving the birds a fancy new name—“Hollywood Finches”—to make them sound exotic and non-native.
That didn’t fool everyone. Enforcement started tightening up when the government caught wind of the illegal trade. In 1940, pet shop owners in New York panicked and did something unexpected—they released their captive finches into the wild to avoid getting caught.
And that’s when things got interesting.
The released birds survived, adapted, and started breeding. They found New York’s parks, gardens, and backyards suitable places to raise families. Within a few years, they had spread throughout the Northeast and expanded rapidly across the eastern half of North America.
So now, thanks to an accidental release tied to illegal pet sales, House Finches are one of the most widespread songbirds in North America. It’s a classic case of unintended consequences—but one that ended with a success story (for the birds, anyway).