The chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) is a small passerine finch. Found across Europe and parts of Asia, it is common in wooded and semi-open environments. Its distinctive appearance and calls make it easily identifiable.
Distinctive Features
Male chaffinches are strikingly colored. During breeding, plumage is vibrant, with a blue-grey crown and nape, contrasting with reddish-pink breast and cheeks. Their back is warm brown, lower back and rump olive-green. Both sexes have two prominent white wing bars and outer tail feathers. Adult males measure about 14.5 cm (5.7 in) long, with a 24.5–28.5 cm (9.6–11.2 in) wingspan and weigh 18–29 g (0.63–1.02 oz).
Female chaffinches share body shape and white wing markings but have subdued coloration. Their plumage is soft brownish-grey, with paler underparts than the male’s pink. Their subdued appearance helps them blend into surroundings, especially for nesting. Young chaffinches resemble adult females, often with a whitish nape patch and brownish-green rump.
The chaffinch is known for its characteristic song and calls. The male’s song is a loud, descending “rattle” ending with an abrupt flourish. Males may have two or three song types, sometimes with regional dialects. A common call is a sharp “pink” or “chink” note, uttered singly or in a short series. Both sexes produce a quieter “subsong” when on the ground or in dense vegetation.
Life and Environment
Chaffinches are found across Europe, eastward to Siberia, and in North Africa. They thrive in various habitats: woodlands, forests (deciduous, mixed, coniferous), orchards, parks, and gardens. Their presence in urban and suburban areas makes them common in populated regions.
Their diet varies seasonally. Outside breeding season, they primarily consume seeds and plant material, foraging on the ground. They are attracted to thistle and grass seeds. During breeding, their diet shifts to invertebrates (caterpillars, aphids, insects), providing protein for young. Chaffinches are typically ground feeders but also forage in trees and occasionally catch insects in flight.
Chaffinches are social birds, often form loose flocks outside breeding season, sometimes mixing with other finch species. They are partial migrants; birds in warmer regions are sedentary, while those from colder northern areas migrate south for winter. Many from Scandinavia and Finland may join resident populations in the British Isles during autumn.
Breeding begins in spring (April to June), depending on climate. The female builds a neat, cup-shaped nest, often in a tree or shrub fork, meters above ground. Nests are built from moss, grass, and feathers, bound with spider webs and camouflaged with lichens. A clutch of four or five eggs is incubated by the female for 10–16 days. After hatching, chicks are altricial (helpless at birth) and fed by both parents with invertebrates; young birds fledge in 11–18 days but are fed by parents for weeks after leaving the nest.