Finches · Perching birds
Eurasian Bullfinch
Copied!
Pyrrhula pyrrhula
Copied!
Voice
Call
Song
Alarm
How to recognize it
-
Sparrow-sized, compact, with a short thick bill
-
Male: red underparts, black cap and face
-
Female: grey-brown, without red below
-
White rump; white wing bars show well in flight
About the species
The Eurasian Bullfinch moves in pairs or small family groups, usually quietly. Its call is a low, soft whistle, and the song stays faint unless you are close by.
It spends much of its time in trees and shrubs, feeding on seeds and buds, especially from fruit trees. In summer it can be hard to notice, but in winter it becomes more visible on bare branches and in small feeding groups.
Look for it in mixed woodland with conifers, as well as older parks and gardens. It is mostly resident, though northern populations move south in winter.
Did you know?
-
Frost-proof on fatty ash
Fatty ash seeds give the bullfinch enough fuel to ride out any frost without a warm shelter — so long as no owl spots him on an open branch.
-
Strips a tree clean
A bullfinch strips a tree from crown to lower branches so neatly it drops only two or three seeds out of ten, and as long as the food holds, it looks for nothing else.
-
The female does the singing
In a winter flock of bullfinches it is almost always not the bright male but the female who sings — a quiet, creaking little song that none of the neighbours bother to listen to.
Where to find
-
In older parks and garden squares with spruces and dense shrubbery — especially in winter, when a pair feeds quietly on buds high in the branches.
-
Along rows of rowan or hawthorn after fresh snow — easy to spot as it picks berries while sitting almost motionless.
-
By canal banks and pond edges with thickets of bushes — it stays low in the branches over water, giving a soft, short whistle.
-
In larger courtyards and leafy blocks with tall trees — look for it on bare twigs, where a red-chested male gives itself away with a slow, direct flight.
