Chaffinch

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Chaffinch in the UK

Chaffinch is an abundant resident, with about 5.1 million breeding territories in the UK. It was recorded in 94% of 10-km squares in the last breeding atlas. Numbers rose from the 1970s to the mid-2000s but have fallen in all four UK countries since about 2010, leaving the population 26% below its 1967 level by 2024. Disease, including trichomonosis, is the suspected cause. In winter, birds from Scandinavia join the residents. It is still Green-listed.

Where and when to see a Chaffinch

Any wood, hedge, park or garden with trees, in every month and in every county. Males sing from late February to July from a mid-height perch. In autumn and winter look for flocks on stubble, under beech trees and around farmyards, often with other finches and sometimes Bramblings. Visible migration on the east and south coasts in October can bring hundreds overhead in a morning. In gardens they feed mostly on the ground under the feeders.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Woods, gardens.
Diet: Seeds, invertebrates.
Field note: Winter flocks common.

How to identify a Chaffinch

Sparrow-sized. The male has a blue-grey crown and nape, a pinkish-orange face and breast, a chestnut back and an olive-green rump. The female is plain grey-brown with a greenish rump. Both show the same wing pattern, which is the key at any age: a broad white shoulder patch and a narrower white wing bar on dark wings. White outer tail feathers flash in flight. On the ground it walks with short, jerky steps and a nodding head.

Call and song

The song is a short, loud rattle that speeds up down the scale and ends in a flourish, often likened to a bowler running up and delivering. The usual call is a sharp "pink, pink". In flight it gives a soft "yup". Males also repeat a monotonous "hweet" in spring. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• Brambling: Brambling has an orange breast and shoulder and a white rump, where Chaffinch has a white shoulder and greenish rump.
• House Sparrow: A female House Sparrow is streaked on the back and lacks the white shoulder, wing bar and white outer tail feathers.
• Bullfinch: A male Bullfinch is a deeper rose-red below with a black cap and white rump, and has a stubby black bill.

Related guide UK garden birds.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Chaffinch is a Common tier bird, worth +1 point when you log one. It is not on the Red or Amber lists in Birds of Conservation Concern 5.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• BramblingUncommon · Beech woods
• Varied ThrushLegendary · Woods
• BlackbirdCommon · Gardens
• Blue TitCommon · Woodland
• Coal TitCommon · Conifers
• Collared DoveCommon · Gardens

Chaffinch: quick answers

What does a Chaffinch eat?

Seeds for most of the year, picked from the ground: weed seeds, grain, beech mast and sunflower hearts dropped from feeders. In the breeding season it switches to caterpillars and other insects, which it takes from foliage and feeds to the chicks.

Is the Chaffinch rare in the UK?

No. It is among the five or six most numerous breeding birds in Britain. It has declined since about 2010, though, so a garden that once had twenty in winter may now have a handful.

What habitat does Chaffinch live in?

Anywhere with trees or tall shrubs. It breeds in broadleaved and conifer woodland, hedgerows, orchards, churchyards, parks and gardens, from sea level to the upper edge of upland plantations. Only treeless moor, open fen and city centres without greenery lack them.

Kit that helps

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