The Chaffinch
Latin Name: Fringilla coelebs.
The female chaffinch has similar colouring but is a little duller than the male. Both the male and female have browny black and white bars on their wings.
Habitat: The chaffinch usually inhabit farmland, woodlands, scrubland, parks and gardens, but they rarely nest in city centres.
Food: Chaffinch eat seeds, berries and the young nestlings will also eat insects.
Distribution: The chaffinch is a common resident of Great Britain.
Nesting: The nest is usually made from grass, moss and hair with an inner lining of feathers and hair. It is normally a round shape and can sometimes have an outer covering of moss added for camouflage. The nest is normally located in the fork of tree and shrub branches.
Eggs: They lay 4-8 greyish-blue spotted eggs from April to June. The females generally incubate the eggs for 11-13 days.
Did You Know?
- Chaffinches can form flocks.
- Chaffinch have a ringing call which they use when perched and a staccato call when they are in flight.
- The song of a chaffinch is made up of quick succession of lots notes.
- Chaffinch chicks leave the nest 13-14 days after hatching.
We have lots of Chaffinch on our farm and they love to fly from branch to branch calling to each other.