Eurasian chaffinch

2025-06-25T12:42:28Z

174.198.3.115: /* Taxonomy */

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Redirect|Chaffinch|other species of chaffinch|Chaffinch (disambiguation)}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Common chaffinch
| image = Male Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs.jpg
| image_caption = Male in Scotland
| image2 = Fulda Buchfinkweibchen Juni 2012.JPG
| image2_caption = Female in [[Hessen]], Germany<br />
[[File:Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) (W1CDR0001527 BD14).ogg|thumb|center|Song of male in [[Surrey]], England]]
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |author-link=BirdLife International |year=2019 |title=''Fringilla coelebs'' |amends=2018 |page=e.T22720030A155432370 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22720030A155432370.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Fringilla
| species = coelebs
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| range_map = Rangemap-pinson.PNG
| range_map_caption = Distribution map<br/>{{legend0|#FFFF00|Summer|border=solid 1px black}} {{legend0|#008000|Resident|border=solid 1px black}} {{legend0|#007EFE|Winter|border=solid 1px black}} {{legend0|#C3C38E|[[Introduced species|Introduced]]|border=solid 1px black}}<br/>{{legend0|#FFBDFF|''canariensis'', ''moreletti'' and ''maderensis''|border=solid 1px black}} {{legend0|#800000|''spodiogenys''|border=solid 1px black}}
}}
The '''Eurasian chaffinch''', '''common chaffinch''', or simply the '''chaffinch''' ('''''Fringilla coelebs''''') is a common and widespread small [[passerine]] bird in the [[finch]] family. The male is brightly coloured with a [[blue-grey]] cap and [[Rust (color)|rust-red]] underparts. The female is more subdued in colouring, but both sexes have two contrasting white wing bars and white sides to the tail. The male bird has a strong voice and sings from exposed perches to attract a mate.

The chaffinch breeds in much of Europe, across the [[Palearctic]] to Siberia. The female builds a nest with a deep cup in the fork of a tree. The [[Clutch (eggs)|clutch]] is typically four or five eggs, which hatch in about 13 days. The chicks [[fledge]] in around 14 days, but are fed by both adults for several weeks after leaving the nest. Outside the breeding season, chaffinches form flocks in open countryside and forage for seeds on the ground. During the breeding season, they forage on trees for invertebrates, especially caterpillars, and feed these to their young. They are partial [[bird migration|migrant]]s; birds breeding in warmer regions are sedentary, while those breeding in the colder northern areas of their range winter further south.

The eggs and nestlings of the chaffinch are taken by a variety of mammalian and avian predators. Its large numbers and huge range mean that chaffinches are classed as of [[least concern]] by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]].

==Taxonomy==
The Eurasian chaffinch was described by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1758 in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' under its current [[Binomial nomenclature|binomial name]], ''Fringilla coelebs''.<ref name=linnaeus>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1| edition=10th | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | place=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=la | page=179 | url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727086 }}</ref> ''Fringilla'' is the Latin word for finch, while ''coelebs'', a variant of ''caelebs'', means unmarried or single (as in ''celibate''). Linnaeus remarked that during the Swedish winter, only the female birds migrated south through Belgium to Italy.<ref name=linnaeus/><ref>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling |publisher = Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=112, 164}}</ref>

The English name comes from the [[Old English]] ''ceaffinc'', where ''ceaf'' is "[[chaff]]" and ''finc'' "[[finch]]".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=chaffinch |title=Chaffinch |work=American Heritage Dictionary | publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |access-date=25 November 2016}}</ref> Chaffinches were likely given this name because after farmers thresh their crops, these birds sometimes spend weeks picking through heaps of discarded chaff for grain. The chaffinch is one of the many birds depicted in the marginal decoration of the 15th-century English illuminated manuscript the [[Sherborne Missal]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Clark | first=Kenneth|title=Animals and Men|publisher=Thames and Hudson | location=London | year=1977 | pages=107 | isbn=978-0-500-23257-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title= The Sherborne Missal - Pages 17 and 18 | url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/sherborne/accessible/pages17and18.html | publisher=British Library | access-date=19 August 2013}}</ref> The English naturalist [[William Turner (naturalist)|William Turner]] described the Eurasian chaffinch in his book on birds ''Avium praecipuarum'', published in 1544. Although the text is in Latin, Turner gives the English name as chaffinche and lists two folk names: sheld-appel and spink.<ref>{{cite book | last=Turner | first=William | author-link= William Turner (naturalist) | translator=Evans, A.H. | translator-link=Arthur Humble Evans | year=1903 | orig-year=1544 | title= Turner on birds: a short and succinct history of the principal birds noticed by Pliny and Aristotle first published by Doctor William Turner, 1544 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | place=Cambridge | language=la, en | url=https://archive.org/stream/turneronbirdssho00turn#page/72/mode/2up | pages=72–73 }} The Latin title of the 1544 edition was: ''Avium praecipuarum quarum apud Plinium et Aristotelem mentio est, brevis et succincta historia''.</ref> The word ''sheld'' is a dialectal word meaning pied or multicoloured (as in [[shelduck]]).<ref>{{cite OED |sheld}}</ref> Appel may be related to ''Alp'', an obsolete word for a bullfinch.<ref name=swainson>{{cite book | last=Swainson | first=Charles | year=1885 |title=Provincial names and folk lore of British birds | publisher=Trübner | place=London | pages=62–63 |url=https://archive.org/stream/provincialnames00swaigoog#page/n79/mode/2up }}</ref><ref>{{cite OED |alp| id=5677}}</ref> The name ''spink'' is probably derived from the bird's call note. The names spink and shell apple are among the many folk names listed for the common chaffinch by Reverend Charles Swainson in his ''Provincial Names and Folk Lore of British Birds'' (1885).<ref name=swainson/>

The [[Fringillidae]] are all seed-eaters with stout conical bills. They have similar skull morphologies, nine large [[Flight feather#Primaries|primaries]], 12 tail feathers and no [[Crop (anatomy)#Birds|crop]]. In all species, the female builds the nest, incubates the eggs, and broods the young. Finches are divided into two subfamilies, the [[Carduelinae]], containing around 28 [[genera]] with 141 [[species]] and the [[Fringillinae]] containing a single genus, ''[[Fringilla]]'', with four species: the common chaffinch (''F. coelebs''), the [[Gran Canaria blue chaffinch]] (''F. polatzeki''), the [[Tenerife blue chaffinch]] (''F. teydea''), and the [[brambling]] (''F. montifringilla''). Fringilline finches raise their young almost entirely on [[arthropod]]s, while the cardueline finches raise their young on regurgitated seeds.<ref name=hbwfinches>{{ cite book | last1=Collar | first1=Nigel | last2=Newton | first2=Ian | year=2010 | chapter=Family Fringillidae (Finches) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=15: Weavers to New World Warblers | place=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=978-84-96553-68-2 | pages=440–442 }}</ref>

===Subspecies===
A number of [[subspecies]] of the Eurasian chaffinch have been described, based principally on the differences in the pattern and colour of the adult male plumage.

Within the "''coelebs'' group", the gradual [[Cline (biology)|clinal]] variation over the large geographic range and the extensive [[intergradation]] means that the geographical limits and acceptance of the various subspecies varies between authorities. The [[International Ornithological Committee|International Ornithologists' Union]] lists 11 subspecies from this group,<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | title=Finches, euphonias | work= World Bird List Version 5.3 | url= http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/finches/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union| access-date = 20 August 2015 }}</ref> whereas Peter Clement in the Birds of the World lists seven and considers the features of the subspecies ''balearica'' ([[Mallorca]]), ''caucasica'' (the southern [[Caucasus]]), ''schiebeli'' (southern Greece, [[Crete]] and western Turkey), and ''tyrrhenica'' ([[Corsica]]) to fall within the variation of the [[Subspecies#Nominotypical subspecies and subspecies autonyms|nominate subspecies]]. He also suggests that the subspecies ''alexandrovi'', ''sarda'', ''solomkoi'', and ''syriaca'' may represent variations of the nominate subspecies.<ref name=bow>{{cite journal | last=Clement | first=P. | year=2020 | title=Common Chaffinch (''Fringilla coelebs'') | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | journal=Birds of the World | location=Ithaca, NY, USA | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | doi=10.2173/bow.comcha.01 }}</ref>

The authors of a 2009 [[molecular phylogenetic]] study on the three subspecies that were recognised on the Canary Islands concluded that they are sufficiently distinct in both [[genotype]] and [[phenotype]] to be considered as separate species within the genus ''Fringilla''. They also proposed a revised distribution of the subspecies on the islands in which the birds on [[La Palma]] (''palmae'') and [[El Hierro]] (''ombrioso'') are grouped together as a single subspecies, while the current ''canariensis'' subspecies is split into two, with one subspecies occurring only on [[Gran Canaria]] and the other on [[La Gomera]] and [[Tenerife]].<ref name=suarez>{{cite journal | last1=Suárez | first1=Nicolás M| last2=Betancor | first2=Eva | last3=Klassert | first3=Tilman E. | last4=Almeida | first4=Teresa | last5=Hernández | first5=Mariano | last6=Pestano | first6=José J. | year=2009 | title=Phylogeography and genetic structure of the Canarian Common Chaffinch (''Fringilla coelebs'') inferred with mtDNA and microsatellite loci | journal= Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=53 | issue=2 | pages=556–564 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2009.07.018 | pmid=19632343| bibcode=2009MolPE..53..556S}}</ref> The results of a study published in 2018 confirmed the earlier findings. The authors formerly described the Gran Canaria variety as a subspecies and coined the [[trinomial name]] ''Fringilla coelebs bakeri''.<ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Illera | first1=J.C. | last2=Rando | first2=J.C. | last3=Rodriguez-Exposito | first3=E. | last4=Hernandez | first4=M. | last5=Claramunt | first5=S. | last6=Martin | first6=A. | year=2018 | title=Acoustic, genetic, and morphological analysis of the Canarian common chaffinch complex (''Fringilla coelebs'' ssp.) reveals a cryptic diversification process | journal=Journal of Avian Biology | volume=49 | issue=12 | pages=1–12 | doi=10.1111/jav.01885 | hdl=10651/50493 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>

;''coelebs'' group
*''F. c. alexandrovi'' [[Nikolai Zarudny|Zarudny]], 1916 – northern Iran
*''F. c. caucasica'' Serebrovski, 1925 – Balkans and northern Greece to northern Turkey, central and eastern [[Caucasus]] and northwestern Iran
*''F. c. coelebs'' [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758 ([[subspecies|nominate subspecies]]) – Eurasia, from [[western Europe]] and [[Asia Minor]] to [[Siberia]]
*''F. c. balearica'' von Jordans, 1923 – [[Iberian Peninsula]] and the [[Balearic Islands]]
*''F. c. gengleri'' [[Otto Kleinschmidt|O. Kleinschmidt]], 1909 – British Isles
*''F. c. sarda'' Rapine, 1925 – [[Sardinia]]
*''F. c. schiebeli'' [[Erwin Stresemann]], 1925 – southern Greece, [[Crete]] and western Turkey
*''F. c. solomkoi'' [[Mikhail Aleksandrovich Menzbier|Menzbier]] & [[Petr Petrovich Sushkin|Sushkin]], 1913 – [[Crimea|Crimean Peninsula]] and southwestern Caucasus
*''F. c. syriaca'' J. M. Harrisson, 1945 – [[Cyprus]], southeastern Turkey to northern Iran and Jordan
*''F. c. transcaspia'' [[Nikolai Zarudny|Zarudny]], 1916 – northeastern Iran and southwestern Turkmenistan
*''F. c. tyrrhenica'' Schiebel, 1910 – [[Corsica]]

<gallery mode = packed heights = 180px>
Syrian chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs syriaca) male.jpg|Male ''F. c. syriaca'', Cyprus
Syrian chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs syriaca) female 2.jpg|Female ''F. c. syriaca'', Cyprus
20240616 Buchfink ((Fringilla coelebs).jpg|singing chaffinch
</gallery>

==Description==

The Eurasian chaffinch is about {{convert|14.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} long, with a wingspan of {{convert|24.5|–|28.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} and a weight of {{convert|18|–|29|g|oz|abbr=on}}.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|p=448}} The adult male of the nominate subspecies has a black forehead and a [[blue-grey]] crown, nape and upper mantle. The rump is a light [[Olive (color)|olive-green]]; the lower mantle and scapulars form a brown saddle. The side of head, throat and breast are a dull [[rust (color)|rust-red]] merging to a pale creamy-pink on the belly. The central pair of tail feathers are dark grey with a black shaft streak. The rest of the tail is black apart from the two outer feathers on each side which have white wedges.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|pp=467-468}} Each wing has a contrasting white panel on the [[Covert feather|coverts]] and a buff-white bar on the [[Flight feather#Secondaries|secondaries]] and inner primaries.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|p=448}} The [[flight feather]]s are black with white on the basal portions of the vanes. The secondaries and inner primaries have pale yellow fringes on the outer web whereas the outer primaries have a white outer edge.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|pp=467-468}}

After the autumn [[Moulting#Birds|moult]], the tips of the new feathers have a buff fringe that adds a brown cast to the coloured plumage. The ends of the feathers wear away over the winter so that by the spring breeding season the underlying brighter colours are displayed.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|pp=467-468}}{{sfnp|Newton|1972|p=19}} The eyes have dark brown [[Iris (anatomy)|irises]] and the legs are grey-brown. In winter the [[Beak|bill]] is a pale grey and slightly darker along the upper ridge or [[Beak#Culmen|culmen]], but in spring the bill becomes bluish-grey with a small black tip.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|p=469}}

The male of the subspecies resident in the British Isles (''F. c. gengleri'') closely resembles the nominate subspecies, but has a slightly darker mantle and underparts.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|pp=472-473}}

The adult female is much duller in appearance than the male. The head and most of the upperparts are shades of grey-brown. The underparts are paler. The lower back and rump are a dull olive green. The wings and tail are similar to those of the male. The juvenile resembles the female.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|p=449}}

===Voice===

;Songs
Males typically sing two or three different song types, and there are regional dialects also.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Metzmacher | first1=M. | last2=Mairy | first2=F. | year=1972 | title=Variations géographiques de la figure finale du chant du Pinson des arbres (''Fringilla c. coelebs'' L.) | journal=Le Gerfaut | volume=62 | pages=215–244 | language=fr | hdl=2268/162278 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Metzmacher | first1=M. | year=2016 | title=Imitations et transmission culturelle dans le chant du Pinson des arbres ''Fringilla coelebs'' ? | journal=Alauda | volume=84 | pages=203–220 | language=fr | hdl=2268/204048 }}</ref>

The acquisition by the young Eurasian chaffinch of its song was the subject of an influential study by British ethologist [[William Homan Thorpe|William Thorpe]]. Thorpe determined that if the young common chaffinch is not exposed to the adult male's song during a certain [[critical period]] after hatching, it will never properly learn the song. He also found that in adult Eurasian chaffinches, castration eliminates the song, but injection of testosterone induces such birds to sing even in November, when they are normally silent.<ref name=thorpe>{{ cite journal | last=Thorpe | first=W. | year=1958 | title=The learning of song patterns by birds, with special reference to the song of the Chaffinch, ''Fringilla coelebs''| journal=Ibis | volume=100 | issue=4 | pages=535–570 | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1958.tb07960.x }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Metzmacher | first=M. | year=1995 | title=La transmission du chant chez le Pinson des arbres (''Fringilla c. coelebs''): phase sensible et rôle des tuteurs chez les oiseaux captifs | journal=Alauda | volume=63 | issue=2 | pages=123–134 | url=https://orbi.ulg.ac.be/bitstream/2268/162713/1/chant_pda.pdf | language=fr}}</ref>

;Calls
Eurasian chaffinches use between two to eight calls. These calls may vary geographically and their role is not fully understood. Some are used by both sexes all along the year, such as the flight call (''tupe'') and the separation-alarm call (''chink''). By contrast, others are used solely in the breeding season. These include the ''seep'' female call and the male ''kseep'' and ''tchirp'' calls. Other calls may be used in when the chaffinches attack other bird near the nest (''zzz'') and when predators are around (''seee'' and ''uh-weet'' calls).<ref>{{cite book |last=Marler |first=Peter |year=2004 |title=Nature's music, the science of birdsong |chapter=5.Bird calls: a cornucopia for communication |editor-first1=Marler |editor-last1=Peter |editor-first2=Slabbekoorn |editor-last2=Hans |chapter-url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124730700500086 |doi=10.1016/B978-012473070-0/50008-6 |isbn=9780124730700 |publisher=Academic Press |pages=133–134 }}</ref>
The ''uh-weet'' call is sometimes labeled ''rain call''. However, the correlation of this call with rainy weather has been challenged by recent research. The ''uh-weet'' call correlates better with predator presence in vicinity of calling males, especially when females are around.<ref>{{cite journal | last=de Framond | first=Léna | year=2025 | title=Decoding the chaffinch "rain" call: a female-directed alarm call? | journal=Behavioral Ecology | volume=36 | issue=4 | doi=10.1093/beheco/araf039| doi-access=free | pmid=40475239 | pmc=12137894 }}</ref>

{{Birdsong|url = https://xeno-canto.org/477972 |species = ''Fringilla cœlebs'' |song1 = Fringilla coelebs - Common Chaffinch XC475139.mp3 |caption song1 = Male's song |song2 = Fringilla coelebs - Common Chaffinch XC477912.mp3 |caption song2 = Fledgelings' call |song3 = Fringilla coelebs - Common Chaffinch XC465725.mp3 |caption song3 = ''Uh-weet'', so-called rain call |song4 = Fringilla coelebs - Common Chaffinch XC477972.mp3 |caption song4 = Alarm ''chink'' call (dog close to the young) }}

==Distribution and habitat==
The Eurasian chaffinch breeds in wooded areas where the July [[Isotherm (contour line)|isotherm]] is between {{convert|12|and|30|C|F}}.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|p=450}} The breeding range includes most of Europe and extends eastwards across [[Temperate climate|temperate]] Asia to the [[Angara River]] and the southern end of [[Lake Baikal]] in [[Siberia]]. The Eurasian chaffinch was introduced from Great Britain into several of its overseas territories in the second half of the 19th century. In New Zealand, the Eurasian chaffinch had colonised both the [[North Island|North]] and [[South Island]]s by 1900 and is now one of the most widespread and common passerine species.<ref>{{cite journal| last1=Baker | first1=Allan J. | last2=Peck | first2=Mark K. | last3=Goldsmith | first3=Margaret A. | year=1990 | title=Genetic and morphometric differentiation in introduced populations of Common Chaffinches (''Fringilla coelebs'') in New Zealand| journal=The Condor | volume=92 | issue=1 | pages=76–88 | jstor=1368385 | url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v092n01/p0076-p0088.pdf | doi=10.2307/1368385}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Higgins | editor1-first=P.J. | editor2-last=Peter | editor2-first=J.M.| editor3-last=Cowling | editor3-first=S.J. | year=2006 |title=Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 7: Boatbill to Starlings | publisher=Oxford University Press | location=Melbourne | isbn=978-0-19-555885-2 | chapter=''Fringilla coelebs'' Common Chaffinch | chapter-url=http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/sites/all/files/350_Chaffinch.pdf | pages=1305–1315 [1308]}}</ref> In South Africa, a very small breeding colony in the suburbs of [[Constantia, Cape Town|Constantia]], [[Hout Bay]], [[Pinelands, Cape Town|Pinelands]] and [[Camps Bay]] in [[Cape Town]] is the only remnant of another such introduction.<ref>{{cite book | editor1-last= Harrison | editor1-first=J.A. | year=1997 | title= Atlas of South African Birds, Volume 2: Passerines | last=Brooke | first= R.K. | article=Chaffinch, Gryskoppie ''Fringilla coelebs'' | publisher= BirdLife South Africa | place= Johannesburg | isbn= 0-620-20731-0  | page=648 | url=http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/868.pdf |display-editors=etal}}</ref>

This bird is not [[Bird migration|migratory]] in the milder parts of its range, but vacates the colder regions in winter. It forms loose flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with [[brambling]]s. It occasionally strays to eastern North America, although some sightings may be escapees.

==Behaviour==
[[File:Buchfink Nest - Nest of chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs 1.jpg|thumb|Nest of a chaffinch]]
[[File:Pinson des arbres – Fringilla coelebs moreletti – Flamengos Fayal Açores 222.jpg|thumb|Eggs of ''Fringilla coelebs moreletti'']]
[[File:Fringilla coelebs spodiogenys MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.222.51.jpg|thumb|''Fringilla coelebs spodiogenys'' - [[MHNT]]]]

===Breeding===
Eurasian chaffinches first breed when they are 1 year old. They are mainly monogamous and the pair-bond for residential subspecies such as ''gengleri'' sometimes persists from one year to the next.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|p=457}} The date for breeding is dependent on the spring temperature and is earlier in southwest Europe and later in the northeast. In Great Britain, most [[Clutch (eggs)|clutch]]es are laid between late April and the middle of June. A male attracts a female to his territory through song.{{sfnp|Newton|1972|p=137}}

Nests are built entirely by the female and are usually located in the fork of a bush or a tree several metres above the ground.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|pp=466-467}} The nest has a deep cup and is lined with a layer of thin roots and feathers. The outside is covered with a layer of lichen and spider silk over an inner layer of moss and grass. The eggs are laid in early morning at daily intervals until the [[Clutch (eggs)|clutch]] is complete.{{sfnp|Newton|1972|p=141}} The clutch is typically 4–5 eggs, which are smooth and slightly glossy, but very variable in colour. They range from pale-blueish green to light red with purple-brown blotches, spots or steaks. The average size of an egg is {{convert|19|x|15|mm|in|abbr=on}} with a weight of {{convert|2.2|g|oz|abbr=on}}. The eggs are incubated for 10–16 days by the female.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|pp=466-467}} The chicks are [[altricial]], hatching nearly naked with closed eyes, and are fed by both parents but mainly by the female, who broods them for around six days.{{sfnp|Newton|1972|pp=141-142}} They are mainly fed caterpillars. The nestlings fledge 11–18 days after hatching and disperse. The young birds are then assisted with feeding by both parents for a further three weeks. The parents only very rarely start a second brood, but when they do so it is always in a new nest.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|pp=466-467}} Juveniles undergo a partial [[moult]] at around five weeks of age in which they replace their head, body and many of their [[Covert feather|covert]] feathers, but not their primary and secondary flight feathers.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|p=469}} After breeding adult birds undergo a complete annual moult which lasts around ten weeks.{{sfnp|Cramp|1994|p=469}}{{sfn|Newton|1972|p=257, Appendix 11}}

In a study carried out in Britain using [[Bird ringing|ring-recovery]] data, the survival rate for juveniles in their first year was 53 per cent, and the adult annual survival rate was 59 per cent.<ref>{{cite journal | last1= Siriwardena | first1= G.M. | last2= Baillie | first2= S.R. | last3= Wilson | first3= J.D. | year=1998 | title= Variation in the survival rates of some British passerines with respect to their population trends on farmland | journal=Bird Study | volume=45 | issue=3 | pages=1998 | doi= 10.1080/00063659809461099 | doi-access=free | bibcode= 1998BirdS..45..276S }}</ref> From these figures the typical lifespan is only 3 years,<ref name=bto>{{cite web| title= Chaffinch ''Fringilla coelebs'' [Linnaeus, 1758] | work= Bird Facts | date= 7 April 2015 | url=https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/chaffinch | publisher=British Trust for Ornithology | access-date = 31 August 2023 }}</ref> but the maximum age recorded is 15 years and 6 months for a bird in Switzerland.<ref name=euring>{{cite web |title=European Longevity Records |url=http://www.euring.org/data_and_codes/longevity-voous.htm |publisher=Euring |access-date=15 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602194204/http://www.euring.org/data_and_codes/longevity-voous.htm |archive-date=2 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Feeding===
Outside the breeding season, Eurasian chaffinches mainly eat seeds and other plant material that they find on the ground. They often forage in open country in large flocks. Common chaffinches seldom take food directly from plants and only very rarely use their feet for handling food.{{sfn|Cramp|1994|pp=455-456}} During the breeding season, their diet switches to invertebrates, especially defoliating caterpillars. They forage in trees and also occasionally make short sallies to catch insects in the air.{{sfn|Cramp|1994|pp=455-456}} The young are entirely fed with invertebrates which include caterpillars, aphids, earwigs, spiders and grubs (the larvae of beetles).{{sfn|Cramp|1994|pp=455-456}}

==Predators and parasites==
The eggs and nestlings of the Eurasian chaffinch are predated by [[crow]]s, [[Red squirrel|Eurasian red]] and [[Eastern gray squirrel|eastern grey squirrel]]s, [[Cat|domestic cat]]s and probably also by [[stoat]]s and [[Least weasel|weasel]]s. Clutches begun later in the spring suffer less predation, an effect that is believed to be due to the increased vegetation making nests more difficult to find.{{sfnp|Newton|1972|p=145}} Unlike the case for the closely related brambling, the common chaffinch is not parasitised by the [[common cuckoo]].{{sfn|Newton|1972|p=28}}

The [[protozoa]]l parasite ''[[Trichomonas gallinae]]'' was known to infect pigeons and raptors, but beginning in Great Britain in 2005, carcasses of dead [[European greenfinch]]es and common chaffinches were found to be infected with the parasite.<ref name=robinson2010>{{cite journal | last=Robinson | first=R.A. | display-authors=etal | year=2010 | title= Emerging infectious disease leads to rapid population declines of common British birds | journal=PLOS ONE | volume=5 | issue=8 | doi= 10.1371/journal.pone.0012215 | pages=e12215 |doi-access=free | pmid=20805869 | pmc=2923595| bibcode=2010PLoSO...512215R }}</ref> The disease spread and in 2008, infected carcasses were found in Norway, Sweden and Finland and a year later in Germany. The spread of the disease is believed to have been mediated by Eurasian chaffinches, as large numbers of the birds breed in northern Europe and winter in Great Britain.<ref name=lawson2011>{{cite journal | last1=Lawson | first1=B. | year=2011 | title= Evidence of spread of emerging infectious disease, finch trichomonosis, by migrating birds | journal= Ecohealth | volume=8 | issue=2 | pages=143–153 | doi=10.1007/s10393-011-0696-8 | pmid=21935745 | s2cid=13343152 |display-authors=etal }}</ref> In Great Britain, the number of infected carcasses recovered each year declined after a peak in 2006. There was a reduction in the number of European greenfinches but no significant decline in the overall number of common chaffinches.<ref name=lawson2012>{{cite journal | last1=Lawson | first1=B. | year=2012 | title= The emergence and spread of finch trichomonosis in the British Isles | journal= Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B | volume=367 | issue=1604 | pages=2852–2863 | jstor=41740010 | doi= 10.1098/rstb.2012.0130 |display-authors=etal | doi-access=free | pmc=3427565 | pmid=22966140}}</ref> A similar pattern occurred in Finland where, after the arrival of the disease in 2008, there was a reduction in the number of European greenfinches, but only a small change in the number of Eurasian chaffinches.<ref name=lehikoinen2013>{{cite journal | last1= Lehikoinen | first1=A. | last2= Lehikoinen | first2=E. | last3= Valkama | first3=J. | last4= Väisänen | first4=R.A. | last5= Isomursu | first5=M. | year=2013 | title= Impacts of trichomonosis epidemics on Greenfinch ''Chloris chloris'' and Chaffinch ''Fringilla coelebs'' populations in Finland | journal=Ibis | volume=155 | issue=2 | pages=357–366 | doi=10.1111/ibi.12028 }}</ref>

Eurasian chaffinches can develop tumors on their feet and legs caused by the ''Fringilla coelebs'' [[Papillomaviridae|papillomavirus]].<ref name=lina1973>{{cite journal | last1=Lina | first1=P.H. | last2= van Noord | first2= M.J. | last3= de Groot | first3= F.G. | year=1973 | title= Detection of virus in squamous papillomas of the wild bird species ''Fringilla coelebs'' | journal=Journal of the National Cancer Institute | volume=50 | pages=567–571 | pmid=4702127 | issue=2|doi=10.1093/jnci/50.2.567 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1= Terai | first1=M. | last2= DeSalle | first2=R. | last3= Burk | first3=R.D. | year=2002 | title=Lack of canonical E6 and E7 open reading frames in bird papillomaviruses: ''Fringilla coelebs'' papillomavirus and ''Psittacus erithacus timneh'' papillomavirus | journal=Journal of Virology | volume=76 | issue=19 | pages=10020–10023 | doi=10.1128/JVI.76.19.10020-10023.2002 | pmc=136527 | pmid=12208979}}</ref> The size of the [[papilloma]]s range from a small nodule on a digit to a large growth involving both the foot and the leg. The disease is uncommon: in a 1973 study undertaken in the Netherlands, of around 25,000 common chaffinches screened, only 330 bore papillomas.<ref name=lina1973/>

==Status==
The Eurasian chaffinch has an extensive range, estimated at 7 million square kilometres (3.7 million square miles) and a large population including an estimated 130–240 million breeding pairs in Europe. Allowing for the birds breeding in Asia, the total population lies between 530 and 1,400 million individuals. There is no evidence of any serious overall decline in numbers, so the species is classified by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] as being of [[Least Concern]].<ref name = birdlife>{{cite web| title= Eurasian Chaffinch ''Fringilla coelebs'' | work= Species factsheet | url= http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=8755 | publisher=BirdLife International | access-date =6 September 2013}}</ref>

==Relationship to humans==
[[File:Tintolhão.JPG |thumb|A captive male chaffinch]]

The Eurasian chaffinch was once popular as a caged songbird and large numbers of wild birds were trapped and sold.<ref name=beeton>{{ cite book | last=Beeton | first=Samuel Orchart | author-link=Samuel Orchart Beeton | year=1862 | title=Beeton's book of birds : showing how to manage them in sickness and in health | place=London | publisher=Self-published | pages=261–274 | url=https://archive.org/stream/b28113731#page/261/mode/1up }}</ref> At the end of the 19th century, trapping even depleted the number of birds in London parks.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Hudson | first=William Henry | author-link=William Henry Hudson | year=1898 | title=Birds in London | publisher=Longmans, Green and Co. | place=London | page=198 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/38334987 }}</ref> In 1882, the English publisher [[Samuel Orchart Beeton]] issued a guide on the care of caged birds and included the recommendation: "To parents and guardians plagued with a morose and sulky boy, my advice is, buy him a chaffinch."<ref name=beeton/> Competitions were held where bets were placed on which caged common chaffinch would repeat its song the greatest number of times. The birds were sometimes blinded with a hot needle in the belief that this encouraged them to sing.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Albin | first=Eleazar | author-link=Eleazar Albin | year=1737 | title=A Natural History of English Song-birds | publisher=A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch | place=London | pages=25–26 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34703288 }}</ref> This practice is the subject of the poem ''[[The Blinded Bird]]'' by the English author [[Thomas Hardy]], which contrasts the cruelty involved in blinding the birds with their zestful song.<ref name=cocker>{{ cite book | last1=Cocker | first1=Mark | last2=Mabey | first2=Richard | year=2005 | title=Birds Britannica | place=London | publisher=Chatto and Windus | pages=443–445 | isbn=978-0-7011-6907-7 }}</ref> In Great Britain, the practice of keeping Eurasian chaffinches as pets declined after the trapping of wild birds was outlawed by the Wild Birds Protection Acts of 1880 to 1896.<ref name=cocker/><ref>{{ cite book | last1=Marchant | first1=James Robert Vernam | last2=Watkins | first2=Watkin | year=1897 | title=Wild Birds Protection Acts, 1880-1896 | place=London | publisher=R.H. Porter | url=https://archive.org/stream/wildbirdsprotec00watkgoog#page/n4/mode/2up }}</ref>

The Eurasian chaffinch is still a popular pet bird in some European countries. In Belgium, the traditional sport of [[vinkenzetting]] pits male Eurasian chaffinches against one another in a contest for the most bird calls in an hour.<ref>{{cite news |first=Bilefsky |last=Dan |title= One-Ounce Belgian Idols Vie for Most Tweets per Hour | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=21 May 2007 |access-date=15 August 2013 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/21/world/europe/21finch.html }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|40em}}
*{{cite book | editor-last=Cramp | editor-first=Stanley | editor-link=Stanley Cramp | year=1994 | title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic, Volume 8: Crows to Finches | section=''Fringilla coelebs'' Chaffinch | publisher=Oxford University Press | place=Oxford | isbn=978-0-19-854679-5 | pages=448–473 }}
*{{cite book | last=Newton | first=Ian | author-link=Ian Newton | year=1972 | title=Finches | publisher=Collins | place=London | isbn=978-0-00-213065-3 | series=The New Naturalist, Volume 55 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite journal | last1=Lynch | first1=A | last2=Plunkett | first2=G M | last3=Baker | first3=A J | last4=Jenkins | first4=P F | year=1989 | title=A model of cultural evolution of chaffinch song derived with the meme concept | journal=The American Naturalist | volume=133 | issue=5 | pages=634–653 | jstor=2462072 | doi=10.1086/284942 | bibcode=1989ANat..133..634L | s2cid=84322859 | ref=none }}
*{{Cite journal | last=Marler | first=Peter | year=1956 | title=Behaviour of the chaffinch ''Fringilla coelebs'' | journal=Behaviour. Supplement | issue=5 | pages=III–184 | place=Leiden | series=Supplement 5 | jstor= 30039131 | ref=none }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikispecies|Fringilla coelebs}}
*{{Avibase|name=Fringilla coelebs}}
* [http://www.hbw.com/ibc/species/common-chaffinch-fringilla-coelebs Internet Bird Collection]
* [http://blascozumeta.com/wp-content/uploads/aragon-birds/passeriformes/426.chaffinch-fcoelebs.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 3.6 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze]
* [http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Fringilla_coelebs/Fringilla_coelebs.htm Feathers of Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)]
* [http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Fringilla-coelebs Vocalisations on Xeno-canto]
*[http://hdl.handle.net/2268/246148: Sonagrams of Chaffinch songs (Fringilla coelebs)]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q25383}}
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[[Category:Birds described in 1758]]
[[Category:Birds of Europe]]
[[Category:Fringilla]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]

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Eurasian chaffinch