Purple grenadier Purple grenadier The purple grenadier ("Uraeginthus ianthinogaster") is a common species of estrildid finch found in eastern Africa. The length averages 13.3 cm (5.25 in). All ages and sexes have a black tail, and adults have a red bill. The male has a cinnamon-colored head and neck with a blue patch surrounding the eye. The rump is purplish blue and the underparts are violet-blue with variable rufous patches. The female is smaller and mostly cinnamon brown with white barring on the underparts and silver-blue eyepatches. Juveniles are like females, but mostly unbarred tawny-brown with a reddish-brown bill. The song (in
Purple finch Purple finch The purple finch ("Haemorhous purpureus") is a bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. This species and the other "American rosefinches" were formerly included with the rosefinches of Eurasia in the genus "Carpodacus"; however, the three North American species are not closely related to the rosefinches of the Old World, and have thus been moved to the genus "Haemorhous" by most taxonomic authorities. It is included in the finch family, Fringillidae, which is made up of passerine birds found in the northern hemisphere, Africa, and South America. The purple finch was originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789.