With thanks to volunteer Phil for this focus on finches and for his photos.
With the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch coming up on 29th to 31st January this article discusses some of the finches you might see. Finches are a class of small birds with notched tails and triangular shaped bills well adapted to breaking open seed cases. Some of these species are very likely to be found on or near bird feeders or in gardens and may be reported on the Big Garden Birdwatch, some quite common and some much less so.
I counted 13 finch species in my Collins Bird Guide that can reasonably be counted as UK birds. Three of these, goldfinch, greenfinch and chaffinch are routinely seen at Pulborough Brooks and are widespread through the UK but there are 3 others, bullfinch, siskin and brambling that are also more rarely seen visiting gardens and bird feeders. This article focuses on these birds as they could all be reported on the Birdwatch.
A few others can also be seen at Pulborough Brooks but are not known for visiting gardens. These include lesser redpoll with a liking for birch trees, linnet which uses open fields, and common crossbill which is a conifer specialist with a specially adapted bill for extracting seeds from cones. Very occasionally the largest of UK finches, the very scarce hawfinch with an enormous bill for its size, turns up.
Goldfinch
In my early birdwatching days I used to think of goldfinches as birds of open countryside with a penchant for feeding on thistle seeds. Their bills are sharply pointed and well adapted to picking out tiny seeds from thistles and teasels. This photo shows a typical example from a field at the reserve.
While this is still true, in the last 30 years or so goldfinches have colonised our gardens in a big way and are one the success stories emerging from data provided by the Big Garden Birdwatch. I can still recall seeing my first garden goldfinch in urban Croydon around 1990. It was very surprising to see such an exotic looking bird in an urban setting, but over the years they have clearly learned that there is a good food resource to be had from our garden feeders.
Goldfinches can be found quite commonly in the UK all year round but not all of these will be resident birds. Many goldfinches come to the UK to breed in the summer and will return to Southern Europe, and in particular to Spain, for the winter. Other European goldfinches may migrate west in the winter to take advantage of a warmer climate and thereby replace some of the summer population. If you see goldfinches on the Big Garden Birdwatch it will be impossible to tell whether they are migrants or UK residents.
It is quite likely that in winter you will see goldfinches in small flocks as in this photo showing 11 goldfinches using the feeders in my garden.
This is quite typical but I have seen larger flocks roaming the nearby countryside, often chattering to each other with their tinkling calls. Over the years this is probably the most numerous species in my reports to the Big Garden Birdwatch, as well as the most colourful.
If you put out seed for goldfinches they will especially go for sunflower hearts and the tiny black nyjer seeds
Greenfinch
The greenfinch is larger than the goldfinch with a noticeably chunkier bill. Whereas male and female goldfinches look alike the male greenfinch has a very distinctly green appearance with a yellow flash on the wing.
The female is browner with just a hint of green, but also has the yellow wing flash.
Greenfinches tend to use the black sunflower seeds in my garden feeders more than other birds, and with larger bills they are more adept at breaking open larger seeds.
They are quite hardy birds and do not migrate to any great extent in the UK although some European birds may spend the winter here. While there is still a large population in the UK the greenfinch has been under pressure in recent times due to a disease called trichomonosis, which first became apparent in this species around 2006. While this seems to have become less of a problem with time it is a reminder that bird feeders should be regularly cleaned as this may help to stop the spread of diseases.
Chaffinch / Brambling
Chaffinches, which are about the same size as a greenfinch, have also been seen to suffer from trichomonosis but despite that their numbers increased for a number of years while greenfinches were suffering, and it is thought that the chaffinches may have been more involved in the spread of the disease than suffering themselves. There is some more recent evidence that the population may be in decline but generally these are still very numerous birds.
The days when country car parks seemed to be overrun by chaffinches mobbing cars and hoping to pick up crumbs from our picnics seem to be over. Whether this marks a decline in numbers or a change in the chaffinches’ behaviour, or a change in our behaviour I am not sure.
Chaffinches are birds of woodland, parks and gardens. In winter they may be seen more in gardens taking advantage of seeds we put out, but they are more often seen on the ground hoovering up the scraps that fall out of the feeders. I have occasionally seen chaffinches try to make rather clumsy attempts to perch on feeders but whether this was just a few individuals or a species trait I am not sure as I have several photos of chaffinches using feeders apparently quite happily.
The male chaffinch is very colourful with a russet breast, a blue grey nape and crown and white wing bars.
Females are more pale brown and rather like female sparrows, but do have the same wing bars as the male.
Chaffinches are resident breeding birds in the UK but in winter time their numbers are swelled by large numbers coming from Northern and North Eastern Europe, so winter is one of the best times to see them.
If you see a bird that looks very like a male chaffinch but has a much more orange colour this could be the very closely related brambling.
This is an uncommon finch that comes from Scandinavia to winter in the UK. It occupies a similar habitat and can sometimes be seen accompanying flocks of chaffinches, typically feeding on the ground, but has been known to visit bird feeders. There are very occasional sightings at the reserve.
Bullfinch
This finch is a little larger than a chaffinch and has a short bull neck. The male is very easily recognised by its striking pinkish red breast and underparts. In the female this is a buff colour but both sexes have striking black crowns and white wing bars. The bullfinch has a particular liking for tree buds which can be seen in this photo of a male at Pulborough Brooks.
Bullfinches do sometimes take seed from feeders as can be seen in this photo which shows a male and female.
Bullfinches breed in mixed woodland, and parks and will visit nearby gardens. There is a good population at Pulborough Brooks and they are most frequently seen in the winter when there no leaves on the trees to hide them. The UK population however is only about 190,000 so generally they are much less commonly seen than the main 3 finches described above.
In the UK bullfinches are mostly sedentary so any seen on the Big Garden Birdwatch are likely to be local birds.
Siskin
This striking green and yellow finch is more associated with coniferous or mixed woodland and most of my encounters have been on holidays in Scotland as in this photo of a male.
The females are similarly patterned but without the striking black head and their colours are rather muted by comparison.
They are resident in many areas of the UK but are much more numerous in the North. Despite that each winter, when UK numbers are swelled by an influx from Europe, keen birders quite regularly see small numbers of siskins at Pulborough Brooks.
Siskins do visit bird feeders and while they are likely to be reported only in small numbers in SE England on the Birdwatch they could turn up, even in town gardens.
You can register for Big Garden Birdwatch here: https://bit.ly/BGBWReserves where you'll find spotting sheets, photography tips, games and more.