From Opus

Male
Photo by silverstreak195
Wallington gardens, Northumberland, 2003

Chloris chloris

Carduelis chloris

[edit] Identification

14-16cm
Male varies from bright olive green in summer to a greyer shade of green after moult
Female duller and browner above.

Both have brilliant yellow wing panel.

[edit] Distribution

Female
Photo by postcardcv

Europe, north Africa and south west Asia.

Introduced to New Zealand.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies

There are 6 subspecies^[1]:

• C. c. chloris:

• British Isles, northern Europe, Corsica and Sardinia; winters to southern Europe

• C. c. voousi:

• Mountains of North Africa (Morocco and Algeria)

• C. c. vanmarli:

• Lowlands of northern Morocco

Juvenile
Photo by delia todd
Montreathmont Forest, Angus, Scotland, September 2005

• C. c. aurantiiventris:

• Southern Europe; winters North Africa

• C. c. chlorotica:

• Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan; winters to Sinai Peninsula and Egypt

• C. c. turkestanica:

• Crimea to Caucasus, northern Iran and Turkmenistan; winters to southern Iran

A further 4 subspecies, madaraszi, harrisoni, muehlei and bilkevitschi, are not recognised by all authorities^[1].

Formerly placed in genus Carduelis.

[edit] Habitat

Woodland edges, farmland hedges and gardens and parks.

[edit] Behaviour

Photo by Joe52
Bournemouth, Hampshire, UK, April 2012

Can be aggressive when competing for food, chasing off other smaller birds.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes seeds. Regularly visiting garden bird feeders.

[edit] Breeding

April to August. Twigs form the base of the nest, upon which is made a bowl of moss lined with grass, rootlets, feathers and wool and is located in a bush or tree. The clutch consists of 4-5 pale blue eggs with reddish-brown spots. Incubation takes about 2 weeks, the chicks fledging after 13-16 days. There may be up to 3 broods in the season.

[edit] Vocalisation

[edit] References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Bird Watching
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links