The finch, the most common bird in nature, represents one of the interesting specimens of the forest collection of the animal world of Russia.
This bird can be found in many regions of Russia; residents of Europe, Norway, Sweden, the northwestern regions of Africa, and western Asia are also familiar with it.
The name of the bird, finch, does not correspond to its behavior. The bird is perfectly adapted to the climate in its habitat. The bird was named by Carl Linnaeus; the translation from Latin “single bird” in Russian sounds like a finch.
Habitat
The finch, famous almost all over the world, nests in areas where there are trees. In Russia, this bird is distributed throughout its entire European part; the regions of Siberia from the south to the shores of Lake Baikal and the Caucasus are the bird’s usual nesting places.
finch in flight photo
Birds of the southern habitat areas are considered sedentary. In cold regions where it is difficult to raise chicks, finches lead a migratory lifestyle.
Males are the first to fly to their habitats in large noisy flocks, settling in groves, gardens, parks, and forest edges.
Appearance
The finch is a small bird, no more than 15-16 cm long, weighing 20 - 40 grams. Wingspan 26cm. During the mating season, the male finch is very smart:
- the feathers on the neck and head of the bird are colored blue and gray;
- on the chestnut feathers of the back, the gray-blue tint is almost invisible; on each wing of the male there are two bright stripes;
- from the cheeks, along the throat, craw to the lower part of the body, the feathers are colored burgundy;
- the down and feathers on the finch's lower back are greenish-yellow;
- the tail is black with a brown tint.
finch bird. male photo
By autumn, the male molts, acquiring an ocher color with a brown tint. Female finches are colored brown with a gray tint, the upper body and head are darker. Grown-up chicks, regardless of gender, have the coloration of females.
Lifestyle. Nutrition
They often occupy places not far from human habitation. After a few days, the females arrive. In spring, birds live in pairs. Later they stay in flocks, flying from place to place in search of food. As a rule, birds return to last year's nests. The size of the couple’s “possession” is about 100 square meters. m.
Finches are very picky birds. They hunt for insects. Their food range includes caterpillars, beetles, spiders, butterflies, slugs, insect larvae and pupae, bedbugs, and ants. Birds collect food on the ground, sometimes looking for insects in trees.
finch lunch photo
Finches feast on plant foods, pecking at berries, buds, acorns, seeds and grains of plants. From the moment they arrive, the small birds destroy a huge number of pests and weeds, collecting their seeds for food. In this way they bring tangible benefits not only to farmers.
Our parks, gardens, and gardens are largely under the protection of little friends. They delight residents of villages and cities with their amazing singing, which cannot be confused with the songs of other birds.
Reproduction
During nesting, males are aggressive, not allowing other finches near their territory. The nest is built by the female. Nesting time is May-June. The nest can be located in trees at a height of two meters. Sometimes finch nests can be found at a height of 10-18 meters.
Finch. female photo
The nest looks like a deep bowl with a diameter of up to one meter. A very dense base of the nest is made of small twigs, moss and blades of grass; the outside is secured with small pieces of tree bark or birch bark. The female covers the entire building from the outside with cobwebs and camouflages it with moss and lichen.
The bird lines the inside of the nest with soft material found in the area: animal wool and hair, down and bird feathers. After the nest is formed, the female finch makes the first clutch, which can contain from 3 to 6 eggs of different colors.
View: Finch (Fringilla coelebs)
Family: Finches
Squad: Passeriformes
Class: Birds
Type: Chordata
Subtype: Vertebrates
Dimensions:
body length 14 - 18 cm, weight - 15 - 40 g;
Lifespan: in nature – 2 years, in captivity up to 12 years
The finch is one of the most common forest birds in Russia. At the beginning of April, one can already hear his cheerful songs, which sound reminiscent of singing
Interesting! A blue or green finch feather can become a talisman for you; in the old days, such feathers were considered a talisman of the hearth and family happiness.
Habitat
The finch is a bird whose photos are sometimes mesmerizing, often found in forests and forest-steppes, city squares, even near human habitation. The chaffinch is known in Russia, Crimea, Kazakhstan, and Africa. Its main habitats are forests of European, Asian and American countries. It is there that birds fly away in September-October for the winter, gathering in small flocks and moving from place to place.
Characteristic
Appearance
The finch is a small bird, slightly smaller than a sparrow. It is easy to recognize by its motley elegant plumage. The finch has a gray-brown back, green rump, black wings with white stripes, a burgundy breast, and a gray or bluish head. After the summer moult, the color of the plumage becomes more brown. And closer to spring it turns bright pink, by which time the bird’s “clothes” have time to wear out. In females, gray-green colors predominate in color. Males can boast brighter plumage.
Interesting! There are about 450 different species of finches in the world.
Key Features
- the male is a food provider, feeds the female, and also protects her from attacks by enemies, as well as from possible rivals;
- the female spends about 20 days building and arranging the nest and incubating the eggs;
- The finch is easily recognized by the white stripes on its wings;
- The finch's life expectancy is short; these birds often die due to their carelessness. While singing, they throw back their heads and forget about the dangers that lie in wait.
finch song
The chaffinch's singing is melodious, beautiful and cheerful. It is often confused with the trill of a nightingale. A typical chaffinch song is a rolling trill ending with a flourish. A flourish is a loud, short sound. Whistled, higher and thinner notes precede the trill. Thus, the song of the finch is divided into the following points:
- chorus;
- trill;
- stroke.
This entire cycle takes 3 seconds, and the pause lasts 7-10 seconds. By the end of July, the chaffinch's song is heard less frequently. Since the bird sings beautifully, it is often kept in captivity.
Nutrition
The finch feeds on insects and plants. Loves to eat weed and conifer seeds, fruits, berries, leaf buds, bugs, caterpillars, ants and beetles. In summer, animal food predominates in the diet of finches. By the way, they help cope with agricultural pests - weevils. A strong, powerful beak, as well as an uneven palate and strong facial muscles allow the finch to master the hardest food. It will not be difficult for a bird to break an eggshell or the chitinous shell of a beetle.
Interesting! Finches are the only ones from the finch family that feed their chicks exclusively with insects.
Nesting and breeding
Finches are among the first to return to their native lands when the snow begins to melt. First, the males arrive and acquire a nesting site, choosing sunny pine forests or spruce forests for it. Birds are not picky when choosing a place for a future nest, but they try to avoid dense thickets. Often they can fly to the same place and tree where they had to settle down last year. They jealously guard their home, not allowing foreign birds into it. A little later the females arrive. Mating time begins. The female builds the nest, and the male brings her the materials necessary for this.
The nest is a tall structure, resembling a deep bowl with strong walls. Finches use moss and lichens, fluff, wool, tree branches, birch bark and even cobwebs as building materials! The web gives special strength to the structure. It is usually located on a branch or fork of a tree at a height of up to four meters.
Interesting! During the construction of a nest, the female finch descends to the ground for the necessary material about 1,500 times, then rises with it to the nest.
In this nest, the female lays 4 - 6 bluish eggs measuring 20x15 millimeters and incubates them for 15 - 18 days. The death of birds can be caused by approaching the nest of an enemy, for example, a person. In this case, the finches leave their place.
The body of newborn chicks is covered with light down, which protects them from frost. Only the hatched chicks are helpless; their life is completely dependent on their parents. Both parents bring insects and other food in their beaks for their chicks.
If you want to look at the most beautiful and unusual beaks of birds, we recommend that you read the article
Already in June, the chicks are ready for their first flight. At this time, they are still very poor at flying and can become a victim of attack by predators. People often mistake finch fledglings for birds in need of urgent care and take them into their home. However, due to improper maintenance, the chicks quickly die. In fact, the chicks were simply waiting for their parents. Therefore, it is better to pass by the bird without touching it.
The finch is not the most suitable bird to keep at home. They do not become tame, but in captivity they can live for about 10 years. This is surprising, because in nature their life expectancy is much shorter and is approximately 2 - 3 years. They are often sold to live in cages and delight their owners with their singing. In the beauty of singing, finches are not inferior even to canaries. Males can perform about twenty different tunes. In the West, finch lovers hold special tournaments in which their birds compete in the art of singing and receive prizes for it.
Inexperienced hobbyists should not get a finch. Although this bird is unpretentious under natural conditions, significant problems can arise with keeping it at home. This is due to the finch’s diet, as well as the creation of proper living conditions for the bird.
For home keeping, spacious outdoor enclosures are usually chosen. In them, the finches are calmer and quickly adapt to the new environment. During nesting, the male is transplanted into a cage. The future home can be equipped with comfortable shelves and perches, feeders and drinkers, as well as a bathhouse. It is recommended to plant green trees or shrubs inside.
Also, all the necessary material for building a nest is placed there: lichen, feathers, tree branches, grass, wool threads and more. A ready-made nest made of rope in the shape of a bowl is also placed there.
During nesting, the male's beak becomes bluish in color. By the shade of the beak you can judge whether the male is ready to breed. The nest is taken care of by the female finch, the photos will show her hard work. She then lays and incubates the eggs. At this time, the male is distinguished by especially loud songs.
After 20 days, the chicks will hatch. It is recommended to feed them butterfly caterpillars. The finch chick, a photo of which you will also find on the Internet, grows very quickly, gains weight and after two weeks becomes completely independent. Such birds can already be sold.
Interesting! If there are several males in the enclosure at once, this can end in a huge fight. Finches are extremely pugnacious.
If there is only one bird, then the most ordinary large metal cage will be suitable for keeping it. At first, it is covered with a cloth so that the bird does not hit the bars.
During the migration of migratory birds, a finch placed in a cage shows great anxiety. This can be prevented by placing an electric light bulb near the cage.
You can see what a finch looks like, the photos and videos are very interesting.
Almost every resident of Russia has at least once in his life met a small sparrow-like bird - the finch. Despite the resemblance to a sparrow, it is not difficult to distinguish between these two representatives of the passerine order. Finches have brighter colors, especially males. They boast a red chest, a blue head and a brown back with a green tint over their motley counterparts.
Nature has endowed females with a less remarkable color; their plumage is not surprising in the brightness of its colors; it looks faded in comparison with males. Under natural conditions, these birds rarely live to the age of three, while in captivity they can live for more than ten years.
It is worth taking a closer look at the appearance of these birds. Many note their resemblance to sparrows, but the color of finches is their distinctive feature. The males of this species stand out especially:
- Finches are small birds. Their body length rarely reaches twenty centimeters, and their weight is thirty grams.
- The beak is small and sharp, colored gray.
- The plumage on the head and neck is bluish or dark blue.
- The throat, cheeks and chest have rusty, dark red or even burgundy feathers.
- The forehead is painted black, and the tail is black with a dark green tint.
- The back has brick or reddish-brown plumage.
- Each wing has two bright stripes.
In autumn, birds begin their molting period and the new plumage of males becomes as faded as that of females. Then the colors become more saturated and become brighter and more provocative during the mating season.
The beak color of finches changes depending on the time of year.. In winter it takes on a brown tint, and in spring and summer it turns bluish.
The color of the females is not surprising with its riot of colors. Their plumage is painted in more faded colors. This is necessary in order to make the bird less noticeable to predators. This color is especially helpful during the egg hatching period. The female blends into the surrounding landscape and does not attract the attention of unwanted persons. Female finches have brown feathers on their backs, and their chests are colored the same as those of males. In general, their color is more subdued and has a dark green tint.
Grown-up chicks are covered with the same plumage as that of females, but then, at the first molt as adult birds, their feathers acquire the desired color, depending on the sex
Habitat of the common finch
Common finches inhabit the entire territory of Russia, as well as Europe. You can also find them in northern Africa and Asia. Ornithologists consider finches to be truly unique creatures, and this opinion is completely justified. Despite their small size, these birds are able to easily fly long distances, seas and oceans. Finches prefer to settle in forests, but thanks to the large number of cities, these birds can be found in city parks, gardens and squares. People are treated calmly and have long learned to benefit and benefit from such a neighborhood.
Migratory season
Although finches are considered migratory birds, some flocks prefer to stay indoors for the winter and cope well with the cold winter climate. The remaining birds at the end of summer begin to gather in groups of fifty to one hundred individuals and in September fly to Central Europe, Asia, Crimea and Kazakhstan. There they wait out the harsh Russian winter and return to their homeland in the spring.
Not all flocks make long flights; some individuals prefer to simply move to neighboring, more southern regions and stop there for the winter. When flying to the South, finches develop a speed of about fifty-five kilometers per hour. Periodically, the birds stop for several days, where they rest and feed.
Finches that remain to spend the winter in their native region also gather in groups and move from forests to meadows, fields and other open areas for the winter. Finches or sparrows often flock to them, and finches graciously accept them into their flocks.
The name of the finch bird comes from words such as chill and freeze, since they fly to warm regions only with the onset of cold weather, and return home at the very beginning of spring. Our ancestors had many signs associated with these wonderful birds, for example, they believed that the finch sings when there is frost, and if it is seen in winter or early spring, it means warming. In Latin, the name of this bird is Fringilla, which means cold.
Ornithologists divide finches into:
- Sedentary.
- Nomadic.
- Migratory.
The lifestyle of these birds directly depends on the geography of their habitat.
Lifestyle and character
Finches fly very quickly and move along the ground by jumping. These birds are virtuoso singers. They have a pleasant, ringing and loud voice, similar to a lark, but with varying personality.
Finches' songs consist of three-second melodies. Between them the bird makes short pauses. Young individuals are easy to perform, but gradually learn from more mature individuals, gain experience and improve their skills.
Ornithologists note that finches of different regions differ from each other in their sound. If a finch is a nomad and periodically changes its place of residence, then some time after the migration, its songs become similar to the songs of its new neighbors. Each finch has its own repertoire, which includes a maximum of ten compositions, and the bird performs them in turn.
With the help of finches you can predict the weather. Experts have identified a pattern - if a bird sings a song reminiscent of the sounds of “ryu-ryu”, then it will rain in the near future. Finches begin singing immediately after returning from wintering, and finish in July.
Before leaving for warmer climes birds sing quietly and very rarely or not at all. Finches that are kept at home begin their songs in the middle of winter.
Recently, many songbird lovers have been trying to get a finch. But these creatures not intended for keeping at home. Finches are wild birds, they feel very uncomfortable in a cage, they experience stress and do not stop trying to get out. In such cramped conditions, finches may develop eye problems or obesity. And choosing food for such birds is quite problematic.
Diet
Finches eat plants and various insects. These birds have a strong beak, strong facial muscles and a special structure of the palate, which allows them to easily crack through the hard shells and shells of bugs.
The diet includes:
- Weed seeds, cones.
- Young buds and leaves from bushes and trees.
- Flowers and berries.
- Various insects.
Agricultural workers often blame finches for damaging crops, but these birds can confidently be called helpers. They destroy weed seeds in large quantities, which provides significant benefits to fields with cultivated plantings and forests.
Reproduction
Flocks of females and males return from wintering separately. Male birds arrive earlier to occupy a territory for future nesting. Then the males begin to sing songs similar to the chirping of chicks, thus luring the females into their possessions.
The breeding season for finches begins at the very beginning of spring. When choosing a territory, males choose separate areas that have their own boundaries and differ in area. Adults choose the same places every year. The finches carefully monitor the boundaries of their possessions and any wandering competitor is immediately expelled. Often young animals start fights with more mature males in order to recapture their territory or narrow the boundaries.
During the mating season, male finches behave like real bullies. They swear and fight among themselves, sing songs vying with each other. The female chooses the male she likes and flies closer to him. Then she starts dating. In order to meet the gentleman they like, chaffinch girls do this:
- They bend their paws.
- Raise the wings and tail.
- They throw their heads up.
All these actions are accompanied by a quiet squeaking sound, like “zi-zi”. Birds can meet in this way directly on the ground or on tree branches.
After about a month, the birds begin building a nest. The main one in this matter is the female, while the male appears as an assistant. Ornithologists have found that to create a home, the female has to fly for materials no less than one thousand three hundred times. Finches build nests almost everywhere, but most often they can be seen at a height of four meters, among the branches of a tree.
Construction of the nest lasts approximately one week; the finished structure resembles a bowl with a diameter of up to one hundred centimeters. To build a home, birds use:
- Grass.
- Thin roots.
- Twigs and twigs.
All materials are fastened together with cobwebs.
The walls of the nest are very strong, their thickness can reach two and a half centimeters. The outer part of the bird's home is decorated with moss and tree bark. Inside the nest there is a feather duster consisting of down, feathers and animal hairs. This creates a warm and well-camouflaged shelter.
Females lay three to six greenish eggs with red speckles. While she is incubating the chicks, the male takes responsibility for caring and feeding the mother. About two weeks after laying, the chicks appear. At first they have bare red skin and a little dark fuzz on their head and back.
At first, the babies are absolutely helpless, and the parents independently obtain food for them and put it directly into the chicks’ beaks. At this time, under no circumstances should you approach the nests of these birds, as they may fly away and never return. In this case, the chicks are doomed to starvation or death from predators.
Towards mid-June, the chicks will already be covered with their first plumage, gain strength and begin to attempt to fly out of the nest. Parents will accompany and help them on flights for about a month.
Finches most often die from inattention and carelessness, from the paws of predators or people.
Summer
Resident
Winter
Introduced
canariensis
spodiogenys
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| Least Concern IUCN 3.1 Least Concern : |
Description
Nutrition
It feeds on seeds and green parts of plants, and in summer also on insects and other invertebrates, with which it feeds its chicks.
Reproduction
Finches arrive in early April. Nesting and laying begin in early May. Incubation and feeding time in the nest is two weeks. Young birds emerge in June. Finches can lay two clutches per season. The second breeding is from June to August. Departure is from September to mid-October. Some birds winter in Central Europe, the rest fly to the Mediterranean. In winter it can be observed in the Caucasus, in foothill forests.
It makes nests in trees, camouflaging them with moss and lichens. Sometimes it nests twice a summer. The clutch contains 3-6 bluish speckled eggs.
- tup- take-off signal;
- chink- social signal;
- buse- aggressive signal;
- xip- courtship signal;
- chirp- courtship signal;
- sip- courtship signal;
- sip- begging signal of a nesting chick;
- chirrup- begging signal from the fledgling;
- tew- alarm signal of a young bird;
- these- alarm at the top;
- hyut- alarm below.
Because of their sonorous song, finches are often kept in captivity.
The finch is one of the animals with a wide range of adaptability, a synanthropic species. The finch is an object of genetic research (Lampbrush chromosomes, genomic research).
Notes
Links
Categories:
- Animals in alphabetical order
- Species out of danger
- Finches
- Birds of Eurasia
- Birds of Africa
- Fauna of North Africa
- Animals described in 1758
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
Synonyms:See what "Finch" is in other dictionaries:
Finch- Fringilla coelebs see also 18.26.1. Genus Finches Fringilla Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs In spring, the male has a bluish-gray top of the head, a chestnut back, the cheeks and belly are reddish brown, the rump is greenish; in autumn the top of the head is brownish. Female... ... Birds of Russia. Directory
Finch- Chaffinch. Finch, bird (finches family). The average length is 15 cm. It lives in the forests of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. One of the most numerous birds on the planet. The spring song is a sonorous trill, the autumn is a quiet murmur. ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
Finch- Chaffinch. Finch. Chaffinch, a bird of the finch family. It lives in the forests of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. A typical migratory bird. Length about 15 Look: the head and throat are ash gray, the back is red-brown, the loin is yellow-green, the chest and ... Encyclopedia "Animals in the House"
Bird of the finch family. The average length is 15 cm. It lives in the forests of Europe, Western Europe. Asia and North Africa. The song is sonorous, but monotonous... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Finch, chaffinch, husband. A songbird from the finch family. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 … Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
Finch, huh, husband. A small forest songbird of the family. finches with reddish feathers on the sides. | adj. finch, ya, ye. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
- (Fringilla coelebs), a bird of the finch family. Dl. on average 15 cm. Pacnpoci was wounded in Europe, North. Zap. Africa and West Asia, in the USSR in forest and forest-steppe zones, following the deforestation of the taiga, it settled in the east to Irkutsk and the Tuva Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Common in urban... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary
In the forests of our country you can often find birds whose size and body shape subtly resemble sparrows. These are finches from the passerine order. But unlike their gray relatives, finches have a very bright appearance. The reddish breast and brown-green back are harmoniously combined with a blue-gray head and black and white wings. And it’s not just their appearance that finches differ from their gray counterparts. They are also capable of presenting sonorous and cheerful songs to everyone who hears them, for which finches can rightfully be classified as songbirds.
Finches feed mainly on plant foods. They eat conifer seeds, buds and wild berries. In summer they include various insects in their diet.
Finches usually delight listeners with their songs in the spring, during the nesting period. Already at the end of March, male finches begin to return from warm regions to their native places. And after a few days the females arrive. It is for them that the forest beauties sing their serenades. At this time, a whole choir of finches can be heard in the forest, each trying to outsing its neighbor as best as possible. And when the female chooses one of the performers, the happy chosen one puts on a whole performance. He dances selflessly, crouching and bowing, either spreading or folding his wings, or stomping and spinning in one place.
But now a married couple has formed, and construction of a nest for the chicks begins. The main work is done by the female, who with extraordinary skill creates a cozy nest, camouflaged so that from afar it can be mistaken for a growth on a tree. The male sometimes helps her by bringing a few twigs, but most of the time he is engrossed in his songs, which he continues to sing even after the start of family life.
The songs subside only after the chicks appear. All the worries of a married couple during this period are aimed at feeding their newborns. All day long, young parents drag insects and caterpillars into the nest, and the chicks greet them with wide-open bright red mouths. With such coloration of the chicks' mouths, the parents will not be able to miss, and the food will fall exactly where it is intended.
Finches are friendly birds. If a nest is threatened by a predator, the neighbors will definitely attract the parents with loud screams and help drive away the uninvited guest.
When the chicks grow up, their parents teach them to sing songs. Children carefully remember all the subtleties of the melody performed by their parents and try to repeat it as accurately as possible. At first, young finches sing simple, children's songs, but over time they master complex, adult songs.
People like the songs of finches so much that bird lovers keep them in their homes, enjoying the sonorous trills of these little beauties.
