![]() Greenfinch populations are not particularly stable in the UK and fluctuate with outbreaks of the parasite trichomoniasis. This colourful character is a distinctive green and has a whistling, almost wheezing song that it frequently sings as it weaves through the sky. Native to Europe, North Africa and Southwest Asia, the greenfinch is one of the UK’s most common resident garden birds. Both the male and female have distinctive wing bars. Contrastingly, the female is almost all grey-brown with whitish underparts. The male has a bluish cap with pink cheeks and a pinkish-red breast. They're one of the most colourful UK finches, especially in the case of the male. AppearanceĬhaffinches measure 4.5 cm long, with a wingspan of 24.5 to 28.5cm and weigh around 18 to 29g. Though found mostly in deciduous forests, chaffinches have adapted to many habitats, including urban areas. While the UK has a large population of resident chaffinches, numbers are boosted by migrants from northern Europe.Ĭhaffinches are melodic birds with a diverse range of songs. The Chaffinch is regularly reported as one of the top 10 birds observed in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, though it doesn’t usually feed openly from bird feeders. There are around 6.2 million in the UK and a further 2 million in Ireland. The Chaffinch is the UK’s most common finch and the second most common breeding bird overall. The male and female are similar, but the female lacks much of the red parts of the male. They’re distinctively coloured with a red face, white and brown bodies and black and yellow striped wings. AppearanceĮuropean goldfinches are small and slender, measuring 12 to 13cm long with a wingspan of around 21 to 25cm. There are approximately 1.5 to 1.7 million goldfinches in the UK. Goldfinches have a delightful and recognisable song, and are capable of mimicking elements of other birds’ songs. Their pointed bills enable them to retrieve seeds and berries that other species of birds can’t easily access. Though they’re found throughout much of the UK and Ireland, goldfinches are most common in southern England. There are four subspecies of goldfinch - the UK is home to the carduelis subspecies, which is distinctively coloured with a red face and black and yellow wings. The common European goldfinch, also just called the goldfinch, is native to Europe, North Africa, and much of Asia. There are around 15 to 22 finches found in the UK, though some are rare visitors or end up here as vagrants from as far as North America. The UK is home to its own fine selection of these diverse and beautiful songbirds. Finches played a decisive role in our modern-day understanding of evolution.įinches have had a close relationship with humans for thousands of years and are much-loved for their sociable, colourful nature and melodic songs. Darwin’s finches were pivotal in his formulation of the theory of natural selection. There’s tremendous diversity amongst finches, and taxonomists are still unsure of how to group many of them.īesides the large Fringillidae family, there are many other birds called finches distributed across other families, including Darwin's finches of the Galapagos Islands, which are now considered members of Thraupidae (the tanagers). ![]() The True Finch family Fringillidae is large, containing some 234 species distributed across two subfamilies and 50 genera. They’re widespread throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. ![]() Finches are small-to-medium-sized songbirds, often colourful, with melodic songs and solid and specialised bills. ![]()
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