Chaffinch

An 'Exmoor Ponies in Conservation' project



Chaffinch

Chaffinch, European songbird that is the most common finch in western Europe. It is 15 cm (6 in) long. The male has a slate-blue crown and nape, chestnut back, greenish rump, and pink-to-rust face and breast. At its shoulders are white wing bars, and in flight the white outer tail feathers show. The female is light olive-brown above, paler below. The nests of chaffinches, which are built in woods, hedges, or gardens, are cup-shaped and made of grass, moss, and fibres.

Chaffinches often have two broods in a year, and each clutch comprises 4 to 6 brownish eggs, which the female incubates on her own for 12 to 13 days. The birds do much damage to fruit trees in the spring by eating flower buds, although they also feed on seeds and insects. Many migrate to southern or western Europe during the winter. The sexes migrate from some areas in separate flocks. Young male chaffinches learn the song of adults near them, and the songs of birds from different locations are distinguishable. Another species sometimes called chaffinch is the teydefinch, or blue chaffinch, of the Canary Islands.

A Chaffinch