Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs male on apple tree with spring blossom
The name chaffinch comes from Old English ceaffinc, literally "chaff finch", and is the source of the nickname chaffy or bird is so named for its tendency to peck the grain left out in farmyards,a habit which has also garnered it the names wheatbird and wheatsel-bird the latter used primarily of male chaffinches The names scobby, cobby, scoppy, and scop refer to this pecking This bird is widespread and very familiar throughout Europe. It is the most common finch in western Europe, and the second most common bird in the British Isles. Its range extends into western Asia, northwestern Africa, and Macaronesia, where it has many distinctive island forms. In the Canary Islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria, the Common Chaffinch has colonised twice, giving rise to the endemic species known as the Blue Chaffinch and a distinctive subspecies. In each of the Azores, in Madeira, and in the rest of the Canaries there is a single species on each bird is not migratory in the milder parts of its range, but vacates the colder regions in winter. 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 species forms loose flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with Bramblings. This bird occasionally strays to eastern North America, although some sightings may be escapees. It builds its nest in a tree fork, and decorates the exterior with moss or lichen to make it less conspicuous. It lays about six eggs, which are greenish-blue with purple speckling. The main food of the Common Chaffinch is seeds, but unlike most finches, the young are fed extensively on insects, and adults also eat insects in the breeding season. The powerful song is very well known, and its fink or vink sounding call gives the finch family its English name.
Size: 4896px × 3263px
Location: Norfolk, United Kingdom
Photo credit: © Ernie Janes / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: bills, bird, breeding, chaffinch, closeup, coelebs, colour, colourful, common, conical, family, farmland, feeding, finch, flowers, fringilla, fruit, garden, green, handsome, male, morning, nature, orchard, passerine, perched, plumage, portrait, powerful, pretty, resident, seed-eaters, small, song, spring, stout, tree, widespread, wild, woodland
