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Common Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebs

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Finches (Fringillidae)

Code 4

COCH

Code 6

FRICOE

ITIS

179168

ILLUSTRATION

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PHOTOS

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CONSERVATION STATUS

Unknown-

The Common Chaffinch is a widespread species in Europe, and is the most common finch found there. Its range extends throughout western Asia, northwestern Africa, the Azores and Madeira, and is also found on the Canary islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria. An occasional Common Chaffinch may be seen in North America, but these may be escaped caged birds. An introduced colony of Common Chaffinches also still exists in South Africa near Cape Town. This species prefers open woodlands, gardens and farms, and primarily eats seeds while feeding its young a diet of insects. The Common Chaffinch has a conservation rating of Least Concern.

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SUMMARY

Overview

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.


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.

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SONGS AND CALLS

Listen to Call

Common Chaffinch

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.

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

Range Map for Common Chaffinch

TERMINOLOGY

Bird Term Glossary

CREDITS

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Samira Belous

BIRD PHOTO SHARING

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS

BINOCULARS AND OPTICS FOR BIRDING

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BellyX
The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.
CrownX
The crown is the top part of the birds head.
NapeX
Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.
ShoulderX
The short feathers overlying the median secondary coverts on the top of the wing. They are located near the back and can be seen as the “first row” of feathers on the birds wing. They are also called marginal coverts and lesser secondary coverts.
VentX
Birds do not have two separate cavities for excrement and reproduction like humans do. In birds, there is one single entrance/exit that suits both functions called the vent, cloaca or anus.
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