Chaffinch (male)

Coleton Fishacre, Devon, UK

Found across Europe and northwards to Siberia and also in north west Africa, this common finch is classified as least threatened by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature). The colouful male above contrasts with the less colourful female chaffinch. In UK chaffinches are sedentary but those living in regions with colder winters will migrate further south.

Habitat

The chaffinch was once restricted to deciduous forest but is now also found in gardens, hedgerows and parks. .

Feeding

During autumn and winter, chaffinches gather in flocks in open countryside and forage for seeds on the ground. In summer, these omnivores  forage in trees for invertebrates, particularly caterpillars which they feed to their chicks.

Breeding

Chaffinches nests are found in the tree forks and are woven by the female from grasses and camouflaged with moss or lichen.  The female also incubates the eggs although both parents rear the chicks. 

Wildfile Specials

• In the 19th century chaffinches were popular cagebirds.  Caging a wild bird is cruel but the Victorians went further.  In order to improve the quality of their song, they blinded the birds! 
• Thomas Hardy wrote a poem "The Blinded Bird" which questioned how a chaffinch so cruelly treated could sing so beautifully.