Cassin's Finch

I've only seen Cassin's finch once, but it was a marvelous showing of multiple birds, both male and female, on April 8, 2023 at Big Morongo Canyon Reserve. I was struck by how robust and beautiful they were. 

Illustration of female from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of male from Birds of the World. 

Adults have a brown tail and wings and a longer bill than the purple finch. The male has red on the head, breast, back and rump and the back and under-tail are streaked. Females have light brown upper-parts and light underparts with brown streaks throughout. They can have red, brown or white eyes. They breed in the coniferous forests of the mountains of western North America as far south as northern New Mexico, Arizona, near Southern California and Baja California. They move to lower elevations in the winter. Some are permanent residents, some migrate south, particularly more northern birds, as far as central Mexico. From the range map, it appears that they may be permanent residents of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California. 

Range map from Birds of the World.