• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

The last time you saw a Greenfinch (1 Viewer)

Euan Buchan

The Edinburgh Birdwatcher
Supporter
Scotland
When was the last time you saw a Greenfinch? I saw one yesterday for the first time in ages it made my Garden Birding yesterday was great to see it.
 
i have a couple of quite frequent visitors. they are not coming down to feeder but did come to left over brambles and haws i think end of last year. since then they stay in 3 to 4m height of overgrown hedges nearby. well enough identified through binos. seen most days.
 
an isolated Greenfinch hung around the hearts for a day last week then not seen since . thats the first I've seen in a couple of years too. We used to have 2x pairs as regular daily visitors .
I also saw a solitary Siskin last week and again a rare visitor this past two years whereas we used to have half a dozen daily only 2-3 years ago.

Long Tailed Tits down to about 8 where there used to be up to 20 on our feeders 4 years ago!:-C same with the Goldfinch too.

We once had up to 15 collared Doves on the lawn and now there is only one family of 3 this year ?

What is happening to our bird population ? its very worrying
 
I have had 22 sightings this year per ebird and song heard in three different places on my patch today. I believe that they have bounced back a little this year. The attached bird was wheezing away!

Edit - just checked. 8 sightings in the same period last year.

All the best

Paul
 

Attachments

  • B Greenfinch 001.jpg
    B Greenfinch 001.jpg
    125.3 KB · Views: 40
Last edited:
Haven't seen any in the garden for a few months but have seen a few most times when I've been out birding (both days at weekend, up to 6) but certainly much fewer numbers than a couple of years back.
 
I heard one singing in the town here during the summer of 2016. Nothing since, even in the wider countryside.

Very sad.
 
140 ringed over sessions at a heathland site surrounded by trees near Poole in November and December 2017.

I haven't got the winter 2018 records to hand but we have ringed about 100 in January and February.

A few local movements have been recorded.

Not as common as thy once were but still seen or heard most times I'm in suitable habitat, especially as they are now singing.

Ian
 
17 May 2017. Picture here. (Excuse the self-publicity!). As explained, they were around daily during the 1980s. Can't date when the decline started, but I went decades without seeing one at home (S London). People in other areas seem to get them quite a lot now, but if one turns up this year I'll be well pleased.
 
I've had more in the garden this winter than for several years. Getting up to 8 most days with a high of 11 once. Haven't seen any looking sick yet.
 
Same pattern in our garden in France - the best Greenfinch winter in a while - with around 20 birds daily and no sign of any sick ones. We've been in the UK since the New Year and only had a couple of birds calling in flight since we've been here.

I'd be interested to know where and when the first Trichomonosis in Greenfinch was detected historically - could the disease have jumped species through close proximity at bird feeders / bird baths?

Following the link in Andy's post it seems that it first appeared in late summer in 2005 and 2006 - not sure if this supports the idea that garden feeders could be the source or not?
 
Last edited:
A very detailed study here

http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/367/1604/2852

From which "The index case of finch trichomonosis occurred in a chaffinch in Ayrshire, Scotland, April 2005"

Does this mean that the disease in finches originated in the UK - or are there European records which appear earlier?

Answering my own questions again - from the same study:-

"We have recently documented the apparent spread of finch trichomonosis from Great Britain to continental Europe [15], which also indicates that the initial emergence of the disease occurred on the British mainland."
 
Last edited:
The downturn in Greenfinches must have by-passed Tunisia.
Before it went belly-up and tourism took a nosedive there, I saw huge numbers of Greenfinch in Mahdia, and on our trips out to Monastir and other places. They were one of the most common birds around the parks, gardens and rural areas[ they were more brightly coloured too- probably bleached by the sun]
 
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 6 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top