Archipelago Wildlife Library

Chaffinch make a variety of calls: from their perch, a sharp “fink”, in flight a soft “yup”, when agitated a high-pitched “ziih”, and the alarm call constituted of a repeated “huit” ^{(2) (4)}. The song, repeated tirelessly, is a cheery rattling phrase terminated with a flourish: “zitt-zitt-zitt-zett-zett-zett-chatt-chiteriiidia” ⁽⁴⁾. Songs and whistle calls vary with geographical location ⁽⁴⁾.  The frequent, powerful singing of the male makes it one of the most heard birds in parks and woodlands ⁽⁴⁾.

At all times outside of breeding season, they are social birds, and often mix with the Brambling (F. montifringilla) ⁽³⁾.  During breeding season, they are territorial birds; the male sings a whistling song to proclaim and maintain a territory by the male, warning off intruders.  The Chaffinch can become quite tame, coming for food at picnic sites, gardens, and car parks, and are common garden visitors in winter, feeding at bird tables ^{(3) (4)}. They can often be seen foraging on the ground ⁽²⁾.

The Chaffinch inhabits boreal, temperate, and Mediterranean forests and shrublands, pastures and arable land, rural and urban gardens and parks ⁽⁵⁾.

Pairs have separate breeding territories, proclaimed by males singing loudly from prominent perches ⁽³⁾.  They use grass, leaves, moss, lichen and spider webs as nest material, and build a camouflaged cup-shaped nest in a tree fork, or in bushes in forests, woodlands, conifer plantations, parks, and gardens ^{(3) (4)}. Breeding season is in April and May; four or five eggs are laid in one brood ⁽³⁾.

The chaffinch is common throughout Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, and most of the Middle East.  It has been introduced to Australia and New Zealand, and is a vagrant in North America, India, and Thailand ⁽⁵⁾. The global range is an estimated 10 million km² ⁽⁵⁾. With an estimated European population of 270,000,000-480,000,000 individuals, it is one of Europe’s most abundant birds ^{(3) (5)}.

Fringilla coelebs are a summer visitors to North and Eastern Europe, migrating south at the end of September and October, returning in March and April ⁽²⁾; they are year-round residents in Western Europe and in the Mediterranean Basin. They form loose flocks when migrating, sometimes intermixed with the Brambling ⁽⁴⁾.

In the summer, mainly invertebrates such as caterpillars; berries, seeds, and shoots are also components of the Chaffinch diet ^{(3) (4)}.  The Small Blue butterfly (Cupido minimus) is a widespread butterfly throughout continental Europe, and it is potential prey for Chaffinches inhabiting chalk grasslands, the Small Blue’s favoured habitat ⁽⁶⁾.

IUCN Red List = Least Concern ⁽¹⁾

Description written by Maite Guignard (2009)

(1)   IUCN (2008) IUCN Red List of Threatened Species [online] Available:

http://www.iucnredlist.org [date accessed: 09/04/2009]

(2)   Jonsson. L. (1992) Birds of Europe, Christopher Helm Ltd., London

(3)   Hume. R. (2002) RSPB Complete Birds of Britain and Europe, Dorling Kindersley, London

(4)   Mullarney. K., Svensson. L., Zetterstrom. D., and Grant. P.J. (1999) Collins Bird Guide, Harper Collins Publishers, London

(5)   Bird Life International (2008) Species Factsheet: Fringilla coelebs [online] Available:
http://www.birdlife.org [date accessed: 09/04/2009]

(6)   Sterry. P. (2000) Complete Mediterranean Wildlife, Harpers Collins Publishers, London