British Finches Definition
British Finches – finches are small birds that have tails that are forked or notched with moderately pointed wings, round or elongated bodies, and head-shaped heads with less or more triangular bill.
The shape of the British finches bill varies according to the primary species, ranging between rounded and short, to quite long and sharp. Certain species of UK finches are very agile and feed by perching or hanging from plants. Other species of UK finches are basically ground feeders. They also eat insects from the foliage during the season of breeding. They make distinctive calls for flight and simple, and often musical, songs.
British Finches have enjoyed close relationships with humans for thousands of years. They are loved for their social and colourful nature, as well as their melodic songs.
The UK is the home of collection of these varied and stunning songbirds UK finches. There are between 15 and 22 British finches that are found in the UK although there are some that aren’t frequent visitors and are spotted as wanderers from far North America.
Types Of British Finches / UK Finches
| Name | Scientific Name | Length | Wingspan | Weight | Eat | Where to find |
| Goldfinch | Carduelis carduelis | 12cm to 14cm | 21cm to 25.5cm | 14g to 19g | Seeds and insects in summer. | UK, and Ireland |
| Chaffinch | Fringilla coelebs | 14.5cm | 24.5cm to 28.5cm | 18g to 29g | Insects and seeds. | Common in UK |
| Greenfinch | Chloris chloris | 15cm | 26cm | 28g | Seeds and insects. | Common in UK |
| Linnet | Linaria cannabina | 13.5cm | 21cm to 25.5cm | 15g to 22g | Seeds and insects. | South of England , Scotland and Northern Ireland. |
| Bullfinch | Pyrrhula pyrrhula | 14.5cm to 16.5cm | 22cm to 26cm | 21g to 27g | Seeds, buds and insects | across the UK in woodland and sometimes large gardens. |
| Brambling | Fringilla montifringilla | 14cm | 25cm to 26cm | 24g | Seeds in winter; insects in summer. | winter visitor to the UK |
| Siskin | Spinus spinus | 12cm | 20cm to 23cm | 12g to 18g | Seeds, especially of conifers, alders and birch and some insects. | widely across England as well Scotland and Wales |
| Lesser Redpoll | Acanthis cabaret | 11.5cm | 20cm to 22.5cm | 9g to 12g | Seeds particularly of birch and alder, plus plants | Scotland, northern and eastern England and Wales |
| Common Redpoll | Acanthis flammea | 12-14cm | 20-25 cm | 12-16 g | Small seeds from birch, alder and spruce, and insects. | the east coast of Britain in the autumn or winter. |
| Twite | Carduelis flavirostris | 14cm | 22-24cm | 13-18g | Seeds. | Scottish Highlands, northern England and north Wales |
| Hawfinch | Coccothraustes coccothraustes | 18cm | 29-33cm | 48-62g | Seeds, buds and shoots. | Parts of western England near the Welsh Borders |
| Common Rosefinch | Carpodacus erythrinus | 14.5-15cm | 22-26cm | 21-27g | Seeds, buds and small invertebrates. | the coasts of eastern Scotland and eastern and south-east England |
| Serin | Serinus serinus | 11-12cm | 18-20cm | 12-15g | Seeds, buds and small invertebrates. | southern and eastern England |
| Crossbill | Loxia curvirostra | 16.5cm | 27-30.5cm | 35-50g | Seeds from conifers. | the Scottish Highlands, the North Norfolk coast, Breckland, the New Forest and the Forest of Dean. |
| Parrot Crossbill | Loxia pytyopsittacus | 16-18cm | 30-34cm | 48-61 g | Conifer seeds, mainly pine, and some insects | Scottish forests and south Britain. |
| Scottish Crossbill | Loxia scotica | 16-17cm | 27-37cm | 44g | Pine seeds. | Scottish Highlands |
1. British Finches Goldfinch
The most common European goldfinch, commonly known as the goldfinch. They are mostly found in Europe, North Africa, and a large portion of Asia. There are four distinct subspecies of goldfinch the UK hosts it. The Species that is distinctly coloured featuring a red-faced face as well as wings that are yellow and black.
There are about 1.5 up to 1.7 million goldfinches living in the UK. They’re prevalent throughout in the UK and Ireland. The majority of goldfinches are frequent in the southern part of England. The British finches goldfinches are slim and thin with a length of 12 to 13cm long, with wingspans of between 21 and 25 cm. They weigh from 14 to 19 grams. They’re distinctly coloured with faces of red as well as brown and white bodies, and yellow and black stripe wings.
2. British Finches Chaffinch
The Male chaffinches are colourful birds an orange-pink breast and cheeks, grey blue cap and an orange-brown back. But the Female British chaffinch have a more dull brown, with hints yellow and green. They are smaller than one of the robins. In summer, chaffinches feed on invertebrates with caterpillars being the main food source.
The UK finches Chaffinch nests are typically rectangular in form and are delicately built with spider’s webs as well as moss and grass. They are lined with feathers. Nests are located in hedges, trees and bushes. The Chaffinches are known as songbird with a variety of songs.
3. British Greenfinch
The greenfinch is one of the UK’s most popular UK finches and resident garden birds. They are about 15cm long and span from 24.5 or 27.5cm. They weigh about 28g. Greenfinches UK are a light olive green colour with a dark eye patch. The wings and the bodies are covered with grey patches. The wings flash bright yellow flash.
The colourful bird greenfinch is distinctively green, and it has wheezing sound and sings frequently when it moves across the sky. The population of Greenfinch is not very steady in UK . The British finches Greenfinches have long, conical bodies and also they are boisterous and social animals who build huge, heavy nests within deciduous and coniferous trees. Around 1 to 1.5 million greenfinches living in the UK.
4. UK Finches Linnet
The British finches Linnet are slim and measure about 13.5cm and a wingspan of between 21 and 25.5cm. They weigh between 15 and 22g. They are grey-brown with a grey-brown upper body with a lighter-brown underside, and the distinctive breast. The tail feathers of UK finches Linnet are blackish colour. And most often found in dense vegetation and hedgerows and construct small, well-rounded nests.
Linnets actually have the name of one of their most loved seeds originates from linseed, a seed found in the plant flax. Smaller finches UK that have red breasts and a crimson breast. The British Linnet is more prevalent in the southern part of England than in Scotland as well as Northern Ireland.
5. British Bullfinch
The Bullfinches are among the most distinct UK finches. The male Bullfinches have distinct pink/red breast. But the female have light orange to brown breast. The bullfinch is an uncommon visit in UK gardens.
The British finches Bullfinches were previously viewed in UK as a threat to the environment . However, it’s now illegal to kill and trap Bullfinches. There are 200 000 pairs in the UK. Bullfinches are the only UK finch species that have a unique structure since there have food sacs at the mouth’s base.
6. British Finches Brambling
The British finches Bramblings have a close relationship with Chaffinches. They have a similar appearance, an orange-white rump, a brown-white breast, and rusty brown and black wings. They’re approximately 16cm in length and have a wingspan between 25 and 26cm and weigh between 23 and 29 grams. The UK Finches Bramblings can be seen as a winter in the UK moving from a north Europe, Scandinavia, Finland, Iceland, Russia and East Asia.
About one to two million British finches Brambling arrive in the UK beginning in September, and are often seen in large groups of gregarious birds. The majority of Bramblings leave the UK to return in the early spring, though some are there until May.
7. UK Finches Siskin
The Siskins is smaller than greenfinches with a length of 11.25 to 12.5 centimetres. They have the wingspan between 20 and 23 centimetres. The weight ranges of British finches Siskin from 10 and 18 grams. They are the smallest finches. Siskins are streaky green with a an black-brown cap on males.
The wings are yellow and black and are more distinct than greenfinches. Siskins are tiny, vibrant finches, which are common found in Scotland and Wales. The UK finches Siskin are similar to greenfinches, however they have more striped, darker wings and males sport distinct dark caps.
8. British Finches Lesser Redpoll
The UK finches Lesser redpolls are tiny birds that have streaked beige and brown wings as well as the upper part of their. Males sport a distinctive red cap. They are 10.5 up to 12.5 centimetres, and have a wingspan that ranges from 20 to 22.5 centimetres.
They weigh between 9-12 grams. The British finches Lesser redpolls can breed in the UK and are found primarily throughout northern North, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, they typically travel. The Lesser redpoll has recently been separated from its bigger relative and is now known as the Common redpoll and the Arctic redpoll that is a frequent visit to winter in the UK.
9. British Finches Common Redpoll
The UK finches Common redpolls are highly specialised to their Arctic and Sub-Arctic habitats, which is where they breed. They are similar to the Lesser redpoll, and they were once considered the same species.
The British finches Common redpoll is larger, measuring around 10.5 to 14 centimetres long with a wingspan of 19 to 22cm, weighing around 12 to 16g. There are just few hundred UK finches Common redpolls visit in the UK each winter.
10. British Finches Twite
The finches UK Twites are similar in appearance to the Linnet however they are smaller and have a slimmer yellow bill. Their plumage is streaky brown. The rare Twite breeds throughout Scotland, Pennines, North Wales, Northern Ireland, the Scottish islands and as well as areas in Northern Ireland.
There are just about 10,000 breeding pairs across the UK. The British finches Twites are found mainly in Flintshire. The majority migrate to the east and south during winter and end in the majority the region of Central Europe.
11. British Finches Hawfinch
The Hawfinches are gorgeous large UK finches, measuring about 18cm in length. They have an wingspan of between 29 and 33cm and weighing between 46 and 70g. The male Hawfinches are much prettier than females. Hawfinch numbers in UK aren’t huge however, they have grown since the 19th century.
The British finches Hawfinches are shy and difficult to locate they spend their time under deep forest canopy. They are even extremely soft, which makes them difficult to locate and identify. Hawfinches are scarce in the UK and have an estimated breeding population of 1,000 birds.
12. Common Rosefinch
The common Rosefinche are medium-sized UK finches. They are 14.5 to 15cm in length with a an wingspan of between 22 and 26cm and weigh in the range of 21 to 27g. The British finches Rosefinches has rose-coloured plumage is concentrated around their necks, heads and breasts. Females are much paler and duller with virtually none of the plumage coloured.
The appropriately named Rosefinch can be found across a large portion of north Europe as well as Asia. There are only a handful of them on the east coast of the UK every winter. The rosefinches in the UK are typically fugitives from other regions of Europe.
13. British Finches Serin
The UK finches Serins are small, slim finches. Males have yellow heads, breasts and necks. They also have stripes of black and yellow on their wings. The tails of their females are lengthy and with a forked. A large number of dispersing or migrating Serins arrive on the UK’s southern and southeast coasts, in the spring as well as summer season.
The British finches Serin are becoming more common since the 1960s and a handful of breeding pairs have been seen within Devon, Dorset, Sussex, East Anglia and Jersey. The UK finches Serin range from 11cm to 12cm , with wingspans of 18 to 20cm . They weigh between 12 and 15g.
14. British Finches Crossbill
The UK finches Crossbills are large finches, having a size of 20cm and the wingspan of around 30cm. They weigh anywhere from 40 to 53g which is around approximately two-to-three times heavier that other species of finches. There are three kinds of crossbill that are found in the UK The term “crossbill” is a genus that is not an individual species.
The British finches Crossbill includes three species: the Scottish crossbill ,the Parrot crossbill and the Red crossbill.
15. British Finches Parrot Crossbill
The Britsih Finches Parrot crossbills have larger bills as compared to Common or Scottish crossbills. Their heads are extremely thick and strong, and has virtually no forehead. Males are red to ruby-red across the majority of the body, the breast and wings, while females are green-yellow.
In the UK they are found nearly exclusively in Scotland with around 50 breeding pairs, and more breeding pairs in winter when immigrants arrive from Scandinavia. The UK finches Parrot crossbills range from 16-18cm in length with a the wingspan of 30 to 34cm. They weigh around 48-61g.
16. British Finches Scottish Crossbill
There are estimated to be 6.800 breeding pairs Scottish crossbills that are restricted by Scots pine forests in Scotland’s Scottish Highlands, Caledonian forests and the farmland of mainland. This UK finches Scottish crossbill is Britain’s only fully endemic bird species and, therefore, does not occur elsewhere around the globe. The British Finches Scottish Crossbill is different from Parrot or Red crossbills.
