• BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

    Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

European Goldfinch - BirdForum Opus

Revision as of 21:47, 15 May 2010 by Deliatodd-18346 (talk | contribs) (Attempt to disguise/re-write much of the copied text. Subspecies. Gallery search amended)
Photo by nigelblake
Carduelis carduelis

Identification

L. 12-13 cm
W. 21-25 cm
Weight of 14 to 19 grams

  • Red face
  • Black and white head
  • Warm brown upperparts
  • White underparts with buff flanks and breast patches
  • Black and yellow wings.
  • Ivory bill
  • Forked tail

Sexes similar but male has a larger red mask reaching just beyond the eye.
Juveniles

  • Plain head
  • Greyer back
  • Unmistakable due to the yellow wing stripe

Distribution

Breeds throughout Europe, north Africa, and Asia. Mainly resident, but migrates from colder regions.

Introduced to South America. Australia and New Zealand.

Taxonomy

Subspecies[1]

Habitat

Weedy fields, gardens.

Behaviour

Can form large single species winter flocks, or be found flocking with other finches.

Diet

The main diet consists of seeds, particularly from thistles and teasels, insects are fed to the young. A regular visitor to garden bird feeders.

Breeding

The nest is placed in the fork of a small tree or bush. It is made from dead grass, rootlets, thistledown, wool and cobwebs. The clutch consists of 5 bluish-white eggs which are covered in grey and brown spots. Incubation lasts about 2 weeks, the young fledging after a further 2 weeks.

There may be up to 3 broods in a season which runs from April to September.

Vocalisation

<flashmp3>Carduelis carduelis (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program

References

  1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
  2. Wikipedia
  3. Bird Watching

Recommended Citation

External Links


Top