Finches of the UK (And How to Identify Them)

[00:00:00]Finches are some of our most beautiful and widespread birds. So, in this video, I'm going to tell you how to identify nine species that you have a good chance of seeing in the UK.

[00:00:12]First up is by far the most common Finch species, [music] the Chaffinch.

[00:00:17]These often give themselves away with their beautiful melodic song, which sounds like this.

[00:00:25]Males have a gray almost blue cap, chestnut brown back, and an orangey pink stomach and face.

[00:00:32]Females are more plainly colored with mostly olive and light brown feathers.

[00:00:37]On both sexes, they have darker brown wings with a white shoulder patch, which is most noticeable when they are flying.

[00:00:45]Chaffinches are about the size of a sparrow, and although their numbers have dropped by [music] more than 30% over the past 20 years, there are still around 5 million breeding pairs of them here.

[00:00:57]Whilst Chaffinches have declined, the numbers of the Goldfinch in the UK have been steadily rising.

[00:01:03]Their populations have more than doubled since the mid-90s, [music] and they continue to get more common.

[00:01:09]There are around 4 million of them here now.

[00:01:12]Despite their name, when they are perched, they don't have much gold on them aside from a small patch on each wing.

[00:01:18]However, when they are flying, this expands into a long gold bar that stretches [music] almost their entire wingspan.

[00:01:26]Goldfinches have red faces, white cheeks, and a black [music] cap. Their undersides are peach and cream, and like Chaffinches, they have a beautiful song that sounds like this.

[00:01:42]One Finch song that is sadly becoming less common in the UK is that of the Greenfinch.

[00:01:51]They have been heavily affected by a disease called [music] trichomoniasis, which has wiped out over 65% of them since 2005.

[00:02:00]There are currently around 785,000 pairs left [music] here.

[00:02:05]Greenfinches are mostly olive green with a more grayish head and tail and a small yellow patch on either wing.

[00:02:12]They're quite territorial and announce their presence during the spring and summer where males often sing from the [music] tops of the highest trees.

[00:02:21]The bullfinch is a little harder to spot than the previous species, but many consider it to be one of Britain's most beautiful birds.

[00:02:30]Males have a rosy pink breast, jet black cap and face, a gray back, and a bright white rump.

[00:02:37]Females share the same pattern, but replace the pink with a washed out brown.

[00:02:42]Whilst they do sing, you'll most often hear their call, >> [music] >> which is a mournful whistle and often gives their presence away before you see them.

[00:02:55]Bullfinches spend a lot of their time [music] hidden in dense vegetation and often roam as a pair.

[00:03:01]Like two of the three previous species, their numbers have dropped in recent years, but at a slower rate than the others.

[00:03:08]There are currently around 265,000 pairs of them left in the country.

[00:03:15]And next up is the siskin, a small finch that was once mainly a winter visitor, but is now a widespread breeding bird across much of the UK.

[00:03:25]They are particularly fond of conifer woodlands and can often be found hanging upside down as they feed among the branches.

[00:03:33]Male siskins are yellow green with black streaking across their backs and flanks, a black cap, and a small black bib beneath their bill.

[00:03:42]Females are more heavily streaked and lack the bold markings of the males.

[00:03:48]They have a fast jangling song that sounds like this.

[00:03:59]Although Siskins are still less numerous than some of our common garden finches, there are now around 410,000 breeding pairs in the UK.

[00:04:08]Their population has increased significantly over recent decades as breeding birds have spread southwards from their traditional strongholds in Scotland.

[00:04:19]Closely related to the Siskin is the redpoll, another small finch with a fondness for woodland and scrub.

[00:04:26]As their name suggests, they have a bright red patch on their forehead, [music] which is known as a poll.

[00:04:32]Males also develop a rosy pink flush across their chest during the breeding season, whilst females remain more plainly colored.

[00:04:40]The rest of their plumage is mostly brown with dark streaking, which helps them to blend in among vegetation.

[00:04:47]Their song is a lively mix of rattles, trills, and twittering notes.

[00:05:01]Redpoll numbers can fluctuate considerably from year to year, but they are thought to be around 260,000 breeding pairs in the UK.

[00:05:11]They are often highly mobile birds, moving around the country in search of good seed crops.

[00:05:17]Until recently, there was considered to be two separate species of redpoll in the UK, the lesser and the common, but these have been clumped together into one species following DNA analysis.

[00:05:30]The Linnet is a bird of open countryside and coastal scrub, and despite being fairly widespread, many people have never knowingly seen one.

[00:05:40]Males in breeding plumage are particularly attractive with a crimson forehead and breast, chestnut brown [music] back, and pale underparts.

[00:05:49]Females are more understated, >> [music] >> lacking the red coloring, but sharing the same elegant shape.

[00:05:55]Historically, they were often kept as cage birds because of their beautiful voice, and their song sounds like this.

[00:06:09]Unfortunately, linnets have suffered significant declines due to changes in farming practices and the loss of seed-rich habitats.

[00:06:18]Their numbers have fallen by more than half since the late 20th century, although there are still around 500,000 breeding pairs in the UK.

[00:06:28]The hawfinch is Britain's largest finch and one of our most impressive.

[00:06:33]Despite being roughly the size of a starling, it can be surprisingly difficult to spot as it spends much of its time high in the canopy of mature woodlands.

[00:06:43]It has a rich chestnut orange head, a black bib, slate gray neck, and a gray-blue sheen on their wings. But, their most remarkable feature are their enormous bills.

[00:06:55]This powerful beak is strong enough to crack open cherry stones and other hard seeds that would usually defeat most other birds.

[00:07:04]Whilst their song is fairly subdued and often unheard, their call is a sharp metallic tick, which sounds like this.

[00:07:17]Hawfinches have undergone severe declines in recent decades and are now one [music] of Britain's rarest breeding finches, with only around 500 pairs thought to remain.

[00:07:29]And our final species is the brambling.

[00:07:32]Unlike the others on this list, bramblings are primarily winter visitors to the UK, arriving from Scandinavia and northern Europe in huge numbers during some years.

[00:07:43]At first glance, they look similar to chaffinches, who they are closely related to, but they can be identified by their grayish heads, which turn darker in the summer, and their white rump patches.

[00:07:55]You'd be quite lucky to hear them singing in the UK, but if you do, their song sounds like this.

[00:08:08]Most bramblings leave the country to breed elsewhere, but a tiny number occasionally nest in Scotland.

[00:08:14]During winter, however, hundreds of thousands can be present, gathering in large flocks and feeding on seeds and beech mast.

[00:08:25]Now, there are a couple of other species of finch that you can see in the UK, including the twite and the crossbill, but I've never seen either of them, and I plan on making a video dedicated to finding them in the near future.

[00:08:36]If you like this, then check out this British wildlife video for more.

[00:08:40]Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.