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Common Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebsOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Finches (Fringillidae)

Common Chaffinch Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Common Chaffinch: Medium-sized, buff finch. Crown and nape are blue-gray; belly and vent are white. Wings are dark with white shoulder patches and single white bars. Female has uniformly gray-brown upperparts and yellow-gray underparts.

Range and Habitat

Common Chaffinch: Eurasian species; widely scattered as far as north Africa, western Asia, southern Russia, and western Siberia. Accidental during migration in the Maritimes and in Massachusetts and Maine; found almost anywhere with scattered shrubs and trees, orchards, farmlands, parks, gardens, and suburbs.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"fyeet, fyeet, lya-lya-vee, chee-yew-keak"

Interesting Facts

 The Common Chaffinch is the most common finch in western Europe. It is also called a Spink, from its fink or vink sounding call.

 The coelebs part of its name means "bachelor". This species was named by Linnaeus; in his home country of Sweden, where the females depart in winter, but the males often remain.

 The chaffinch is a popular pet bird in many countries. In Belgium, the ancient traditional sport of vinkenzetting pits male chaffinches against one another in a contest for the most bird calls in an hour.

 A group of finches has many collective nouns, including a "charm", "company", and "trembling" of finches.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Common Chaffinch
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Buntings, Finches, Sparrows (Emberizidae)_blue
Species Fringilla coelebs
Length6 Inches
Wingspan9.5 Inches

Common Chaffinch

Common Chaffinch: Medium finch. Buff body. Crown and nape are blue-gray; belly and vent are white. Dark wings with white shoulder patches and single white bars. Forages in trees, bushes. Eats seeds and insects. Bounding flight, alternates rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "fyeet, fyeet, lya-lya-vee, chee-yew-keak"

● Foraging & Feeding: Common Chaffinch: Eats mainly seeds and insects; forages in trees and bushes.

● Breeding & nesting: Common Chaffinch: Three to six light pink or gray eggs with red brown markings are laid in a nest made of grass, lichens, moss, rootlets, and feathers, held together by spider webs, and lined with finer materials. Incubation ranges from 10 to 18 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Common Chaffinch: None in range.

Flight Pattern

Somewhat bounding flight with rapid wing beats alternating with brief periods of wings pulled to sides.
Common Chaffinch Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Common Chaffinch: Eurasian species; widely scattered as far as north Africa, western Asia, southern Russia, and western Siberia. Accidental during migration in the Maritimes and in Massachusetts and Maine; found almost anywhere with scattered shrubs and trees, orchards, farmlands, parks, gardens, and suburbs.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationAccidental in North America
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.8 Ounces