Length: 14.5cm
Wingspan: 15-18cm
Conservation Status: Green
Description: Male chaffinches have a pink face with a black forehead, pink breast and belly,black wings and a black tail with white outer feathers. The male chaffinch has a blue bill in breeding season but at other times it’s a dull grey-pink colour. Female chaffinches have the same facial features but they are much plainer, with an olive-brown plumage. Juveniles look very similar to the females.
Nesting: Chaffinches will breed wherever there is woodland and particularly love coniferous plantations, although a garden or park with lots of trees and bushes will suit them too. The female builds the nest in the forks of trees or concealed bushes using moss, grass, lichens, roots and feathers all held together with spiders’ webs. Chaffinches produce a single brood with 4-5 eggs which are either bluish in colour or reddish-grey with purple-brown blotches and scrawls. Incubation lasts 10-16 days and is carried out by the females.
Feeding: Young chaffinches eat caterpillars and other live foods while adults eat seeds, fruits, berries, grains, millet, suet, peanut kernels and even apple slices. You will spot them in the winter at bird feeders.
Information and image from Garden Bird Supplies
If you want to attract chaffinches to your garden then you may be interested in the following products:
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