If you catch any glimpses of red, then you can be fairly sure you've just seen a House Finch. The males of this species have red faces, breasts, and rumps. By contrast, House Sparrow males have gray heads, whitish cheeks, and a black bib under the chin.

A sparrow's tail will be rounded, and his wings will broad in comparison to his body. Finches are smaller than the sparrow, with large beaks and flat heads. A finch's wings will appear short compared to his body, and his tail will contain a noticeable notch at the end.

The House Finch, the most common and widespread of the three, typically has a red head, breast, and rump, but does not have red coloring on its brown back or wings. This helps to differentiate it from the other two. Female House Finches have blurrier streaks and grayer undersides than the other two species.

“Red” Fox Sparrows, widely distributed across the boreal forest of northern North America, are rusty above with some pale gray on the head and rufous splotches on the underparts. The “Slate-colored” Fox Sparrow of the mountains of the Interior West is small-billed and dull gray above with brownish splotches below.