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Bird name:

Hawfinch

Coccothraustes coccothraustes

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Finches (Fringillidae)

Code 4

HAWF

Code 6

COCCOT

ITIS

179170

ILLUSTRATION

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PHOTOS

CONSERVATION STATUS

Least-Concern

The Hawfinch has a large range, estimated globally at 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 square kilometers. Native to Europe and Asia, this bird prefers temperate forests but has been spotted living in both rural gardens and urban areas. The global population of this bird is estimated at 4,800,000 to 8,300,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Hawfinch is Least Concern.

VOTE: ILLUSTRATION

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SUMMARY

Overview

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.


Range and Habitat

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

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SONGS AND CALLS

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.

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

Range Map for Hawfinch

TERMINOLOGY

CREDITS

Author

Jane Wright

Artist

Samira Belous

BIRD PHOTO SHARING

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS

BINOCULARS AND OPTICS FOR BIRDING

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UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
ChinX
The area of the face just below the bill.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX