: to primarily in towns and villages, especially Bar Harbor and Southwest Harbor.
Miscellany: House Finch, historically a western North American species, was introduced to the east in 1939 by the release of a few California birds from a pet store in Long island, NY. Since then, and from there, it's spread north, east, and south but also west to the point where it's now reconnected with its historical range. The first birds in our area occurred in the early 1980s; the first recorded on a MDI was in 1984. A bacterial eye infection brought about declines in eastern populations in the 1990s but numbers appear to have recovered.
Last Reviewed: June 22nd, 2026