I hope you enjoyed reading ‘Urban Birder’ David Lindo’s latest piece for Birds magazine on his encounters with bullfinches. If you haven’t read it yet, do turn to page 77 of the Spring 2012 issue.
We asked you to let us know about your own experiences with these chunky finches in the magazine, so I thought I’d share one of my experiences with bullfinches to help get things rolling.
It’s always nerve racking meeting your partner’s parents for the first time, but even more so when you make that first trip to go and stay at their house. Amidst desperately trying to avoid all those social faux pas and remembering my manners on that first weekend in Yorkshire, my eyes were drawn to the bird feeders hanging outside.
Remembering that it is probably quite rude to stare out of the window when I should be making that all important first impression, all hope went out the window (literally) when a rose-breasted vision of beauty dressed in a silver jacket dropped down onto one of the seed feeders: a bullfinch!
From that first encounter forth, it has always been a pleasure to go and visit my girlfriend’s parents, Sue and Graham, because up to two pairs of bullfinches are a near constant presence in both front and back gardens. I should also state that it is also a pleasure to visit Sue and Graham because they are sparkling company and excellent hosts. The finches are merely a bonus! Waking up to the finches’ soft ‘peeuh’ calls outside the window is a very pleasant experience indeed. They are often the first birds I see each day.
As David says in his feature, bullfinches are sadly so much rarer now, making sightings like these even more precious.
Does your home for nature, include a place for bullfinches?
What do your bullfinches do?I’m not lucky enough to have bullfinches coming to my feeders in my garden, but it would be great to hear from anyone who does. Please let us know by posting a comment below (you’ll need to register on the RSPB Community first), or emailing Nature's Home magazine at natureshome@rspb.org.uk and I'll add your stories to the blog.
Keith m sent this email ito the Birds magazine mailbox:
We have a larger than average garden in the southern suburbs of Manchester, backed by woodland and an open green area. We have been here eleven years and throughout that period have had bullfinches coming to the feeders in the garden. We believe that they nest in the bushes/trees on the garden boundary but we have never sought the nest(s). They go for the same seed as the other finches and tits, namely sunflower hearts and mixed seed, together with suet cake, and the male is of course particularly splendid as spring approaches. We have had more than one pair on the feeders at the same time, but they are noticeably not appearing so frequently this year.
Stewart sent this email into the Birds magazine mailbox:
This Monday, for the 1st time in 15 years, I saw a male bullfinch on my front garden hedge. I live near Aberdeen airport where among the most frequent flying things I see are helicopters - but bullfinches are definitely more handsome than `choppers'. My garden seems not to be good territory for finches as even chaffinches are rare, so the bullfinch was especially welcome. About a week ago I also saw a pair of them deeper in the countryside about 10 miles from here. OK, 3 aren't many to go on, but I live in hope that their numbers in Aberdeenshire may be on the increase and that I'll see more.
Janet sent this email into the Birds magazine inbox:
We see bullfinches occasionally but the pattern has varied since we moved here (northern fringes of New Forest) in May 2010.
In 2010 I saw one bullfinch, or a pair, at least once a week from week commencing 13 June to wk commencing 22 August. Then they vanished.
They reappeared in the week commencing 26 December 2010; from then until week commencing 5 June 2011, I saw them most weeks. Again it was one bird or a pair, at least once a week. The magnificent exception was on 23 January 2011, when five arrived together! Two males and three females. After early June they disappeared, but last weekend a pair showed up again.
They sometimes use the hanging seed feeder, but more often they're foraging on the dead flowerheads of lemon verbena, presumably for the seeds.
They are fabulous birds, aren't they? The males catch your eye first, of course, but when you look at the females through bins their plumage is just as lovely - only in a more subtle way!
Peter M sent this email into the Birds magazine mailbox:
Just to let you know that we have two pairs of bullfinches, and sometimes more, visiting our niger seeds holder every day opposite our kitchen window. For several years we are fortunate that this has been the case.
They seem to get through a full holder in about 4 days. They all look like barrels about to burst - but such splendid plumage that lights up our garden.
Quite often they visit the sunflower seeds holder too, but their favourite is the niger seeds. In fact few of the other birds like the niger seeds at all, except an occasional coal tit- and rarely in the summer, goldfinches.
There is a huge pile of seed cases etc below the holder - which chaffinches occasionally rummage in.
Whilst there are 4 positions on the feeder, the birds don't seem to like close quarters - so it is usually the opposite two perches they occupy. Any attempt by a waiting finch to alight on a third perch is usually rebuffed. The waiting bird has to resort to the sunflower seeds.
In the breeding season, some juveniles do appear too - but last year, the maximum was only two.
We often hear their fluting calls in the garden.
Ruth sent this email into the Birds magazine inbox:
I moved to Camberley just over a year ago and have seen bullfinches only intermittently until the week beginning 18th December 2011, when I saw a female feeding on sunflower hearts. There was another the following week, then a male and female after that. In the week beginning 8 January 2012, there were 5 feeding on the same feeder, so obviously the news had been spread that there is plenty of food in my garden. I also have numerous feeders placed throughout the garden to attract different birds. This week, so far, there have been 2 pairs of bullfinches and now they have started to go on the bird table. I agree with the other contributers who say how much joy they give when their wonderful crimson breasts appear. Such a cuddly bird! I hope that they will continue to come and hopefully they will breed locally, too.