Chaffinch fact sheet
Aug 7th, 2008 by Birdy Trish
FEEDING
Chaffinches eat a variety of seeds and scraps. They eat Peanuts granules and sunflower hearts.
They also eat
- fruits
- berries
- insects
- spiders
- grain
Winter and Autumn: Chaffinch is a seed eater and in the winter and autumn feeds in flocks on farmland
Nesting Season In the nesting season they they forage in trees and bushes, hunting for spiders, caerpillars, flies and other inverterbrates. Chaffinches also have the ability to feed on flying insects by snatching them from the sky.
Chaffinches feed on birdtables and garden feeders all year round.
DESCRIPTION:
The chaffinch can be identified by it’s short , thick bill and white wing marking bars.
Males in spring, are very colourful. They have blue grey crowns, nape and bill, olive green rump, and pink underparts
Females are plain but they do have white wingbars. Upperparts are olive borwn. underparts pale greyish.
When Spring comes round again the male’s pink face and body and blue grey crown returns - its’ breeding plumage.
In flight the chaffinch closes its wings completely (this is inbetween flapping it’s wings). When the chaffinch closes its wings completely it rises and falls in the air . It is that undulating flight that help identify the chaffinch in flight.
HABITAT: The chaffinch can be found nearly everwhere where are are trees. It is a woodland bird but also lives in gardens and parks.
SIZE OF BIRD:
- Length 14.5 cm (6 inches)
- Wing span 24.5-28.5cm (10-11 1/2 inches).
- Weight 18-29g. ( 3/4 - 1 0z)
EGGS: pale blue with pink and brownish speckling.
INCUBATION: 11-13 days. The female chaffince is responsible for the incubation.
BREEDING: April to July. Usually only have one brood.
FLEDGING: 12-14 days.
NEST: the nest is a lichen and cobweb covered nest. It is made of grass and moss. Usually made in a fork in a tree and is lined with feathers and rootlets.
It is the female that decorates the outer part of the nest with lichens and spiders webs. She is also solely in charge of building the nest.
When the famila Chaffinch begins to nest build she ties parts of spiders web around twigs. Moss and grass is then added. She then puts more nesting material into finish the nest.
(I would love to see a chaffinch decorating her home with litchen and spiders webs. It sounds like something out of a story book)
NEXT BOXES: Many garden birds like to nest in trees. The chaffinch is one of them. Putting up nest boxes encourages breeding and helps many birds. I do not have any information about nest box sizes for chaffinches. They usually nest in orchards, hedgerows, gardens and trees.
SONG:
- Alarm call is ‘pink, pink’.
- The song sounds like ‘chip, chip, chip, chooee, chooee, cheeoo.
The male chaffinch sings all the time during the breeding season. Sings a small number of song phrases. They are usually sung in the same order.
DISTRIBUTION: Almost the whole of Europe. Males do not move as far as the females in winter. Males stay near their breeding grounds.
Males and females often separate in winter.
How to attract chaffinches to your garden
MY CHAFFINCH NOTES
So the chaffinches that visit our gardens are more than likely to have made the area their home.
I sometimes wonder how many generations of birds I’ve fed over the past ten to 15 years.
Chaffinches often visit my garden and feeders. I take them a bit for granted. (Maybe they take me for granted as well! Or take the food I put out for granted)
I’ll keep on feeding the birds. It’s good to see the sparrows, chaffinches and blackbirds mingling on the lawn.
Feed the Birds!!
How to attract chaffinches to your garden
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One Year Ago Today - Bird Table News 7th August 2007
A child Feeding a Bird. Hope the little lad is still interested in bird feeding
Tags: bird-food, chaffinch, fact-sheet
