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Hawfinch

Coccothraustes coccothraustesOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Finches (Fringillidae)

Hawfinch Portrait
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General

Hawfinch: Stocky finch with a huge blue-gray conical bill that turns yellow in winter. Yellow-buff head, black chin, throat and mask, pink-buff underparts, dark red- brown upperparts, gray neck and white tipped brown tail. Females are similar but duller. Juveniles have yellow bills, gray-brown upperparts, buff-brown underparts with mottling and streaking.

Range and Habitat

Hawfinch: Native of Europe and Asia and accidental in Alaska. Prefers forested areas.

Voice Text

"ptik", "chick", "tick"

Interesting Facts

  • As the closest living relatives of the Hawfinch are the Evening and the Hooded Grosbeak, it is sometimes called the European Grosbeak.
  • Their shy and retiring habits and lack of conspicuous song make it possible for people to live for years without discovering the presence of hawfinches.
  • They have an unexplained habit of breeding in the same locality before disappearing and then returning after a few years. Such erratic behaviour results in few conclusions about population trends.
  • A group of finches has many collective nouns, including a "charm", "company", and "trembling" of finches.


Author

Jane Wright Splitbar
Range Map for Hawfinch
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Family
Species Coccothraustes coccothraustes
Length7 Inches
Wingspan13 Inches

Hawfinch

Hawfinch: Stocky finch with a huge blue-gray conical bill that turns yellow in winter. Yellow-buff head, black chin, throat and mask, pink-buff underparts, dark red- brown upperparts, gray neck and white tipped brown tail. Eats large tree seeds, also eats fruits and insects. Swift bounding flight.

● Song: "ptik", "chick", "tick"

● Foraging & Feeding: Hawfinch: Eats mainly seeds and fruit kernels, especially cherries. Forages on ground and in canopies of trees.

● Breeding & nesting: Hawfinch: Prefers wooded areas with large trees. Lays three to seven green eggs with black brown marks at larger end, in a nest of sticks, lichen and twigs lined with hair and rootlets, built in a tree or bush.

● Similar species:

Flight Pattern

Swift bounding flight on rapidly beating wings alternating with brief periods of wings pulled to sides.
Hawfinch Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Hawfinch: Native of Europe and Asia and accidental in Alaska. Prefers forested areas.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationRare to casual, Rare in North America
MigrationMigratory
Weight1.9 Ounces