European Greenfinch
Chloris chloris
Male greenish overall with a rather stout pale pinkish bill, yellow flashes on wing and sides of tail. Female is much drabber, but shares male pattern; especially note the big, dull pinkish bill and yellow wing flash. Inhabits varied wooded and forested habitats, including parks, gardens, and farmland with hedges and scattered trees. Forms flocks in autumn and winter, sometimes moving in more open country. Often visits garden feeders. Listen for chattering song, interspersed with buzzy “dzweeeeee” calls. A Eurasian native, now introduced to southeastern South America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Identification
The European greenfinch is 15 cm (5.9 in) long with a wingspan of 24.5 to 27.5 cm (9.6 to 10.8 in). It is similar in size and shape to a house sparrow, but is mainly green, with yellow in the wings and tail. The female and young birds are duller and have brown tones on the back. The bill is thick and conical. The song contains a lot of trilling twitters interspersed with wheezes, and the male has a "butterfly" display flight. Male greenfinch birds exhibit higher degrees of fluctuating asymmetry. The development of males' bones is more subject to disruption than that of females.
Taxonomy
The greenfinch was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia chloris. The specific epithet is from khloris, the Ancient Greek name for this bird, from khloros, "green".<p>The finch family, Fringillidae, is divided into two subfamilies, the Carduelinae, containing around 28 genera with 141 species and the Fringillinae containing a single genus, Fringilla, with four species. The finch family are all seed-eaters with stout conical bills. They have similar skull morphologies, nine large primaries, 12 tail feathers and no crop. In all species the female bird builds the nest, incubates the eggs and broods the young. Fringilline finches raise their young almost entirely on arthropods, while the cardueline finches raise their young on regurgitated seeds.<p>A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2012 found that the greenfinches are not closely related to other members of the genus Carduelis. They have therefore been placed in the resurrected genus Chloris that had originally been introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1800, with the European greenfinch as the type species.<p>There are 10 recognised subspecies.
- Scientific name
- Chloris chloris
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Chloris
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : subarctic to subtropical w, c Palearctic in woods, gardens, oases: British Is. and n Scandinavia e to nw Kazakhstan, n Xinjiang (nw China) and Krasnoyarsk (sc Russia); in s to Iberian Pen., Madeira and Canary Is. (Macaronesia, w of n Africa), Morocco to Tunisia (nw, nc Africa) and ne Egypt, Mediterranean to Turkey, Cyprus, Levant. n Iraq and n Iran through Altai region to se Kazakhstan
- Non-breeding range
- some withdrawal from north
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The breeding season lasts from the second half of March until June; fledging takes place in early July. Woodland edges, farmland hedges and gardens with relatively thick vegetation are favoured for breeding. The nest is placed in trees or bushes. The nest is built by the female who is accompanied by the male. The clutch consists of 4–6 eggs which are laid at daily intervals usually beginning one or two days after the completion of the nest. The eggs are greyish-white, bluish-white or beige with reddish or brownish spots or blotches concentrated at the broader end. On average the eggs measure 20.0 mm × 14.6 mm (0.79 in × 0.57 in) and weigh 2.17 g (0.077 oz). They are incubated by the female for 13–14 days. The male feeds her at the nest during this period. Chicks are covered with thick, long, greyish-white down at hatching. They are fed on insect larvae by both adults during the first days, and later, by a frequently regurgitated yellowish paste made of seeds. They leave the nest about 13 days later, but they are not able to fly. Usually, they fledge 16–18 days after hatching. This species produces two or three broods per year.<p>In Australasia, the European greenfinch's breeding season is from October to March.<p>The European greenfinch feeds on a great variety of seeds, berries, fruit, buds, flowers and some arthropods. It forages in trees and bushes, and also on the ground.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Cinclidium frontale
Large ground-dwelling robin with a long broad tail. Male is dark blue with a shining sapphire forehead. Female is dark brown with paler underparts. Both sexes lack the large white tail panels of the otherwise similar White-tailed Robin. Inhabits well-vegetated mid- to high-elevation forests, where it forages quietly on the ground in dense undergrowth. Song is short but sweet, consisting of 3-4 whistled phrases, somewhat like a truncated thrush song.
Western Sandpiper
Calidris mauri
Small sandpiper with relatively long, droopy bill (longer on females). In breeding plumage, shows rich rufous tones on shoulders, cheeks, and crown. Nonbreeding is plain pale gray above and white below. Juveniles look pale-faced and have a bright strip of rufous feathers on the upper edge of the wings. Most similar to Semipalmated Sandpiper, which averages shorter-billed and duller grayish-brown overall. Extremely difficult to distinguish in winter; note Western is somewhat larger-headed and more front-heavy. Droopy bill might recall Dunlin, but Western is smaller and paler. Breeds on high Arctic tundra in Alaska. In migration and winter, occurs in large flocks on mudflats and beaches. Much more common in western North America; uncommon to rare on the east coast. Occurs in the winter in the U.S., unlike Semipalmated Sandpiper; regularly winters as far south as Peru, rare to Chile.
Chinese Egret
Egretta eulophotes
Medium-sized white egret. Breeding adult has bright blue loral skin, a pinkish-orange bill, and long frilly plumes on the head, neck, and back. Nonbreeding adult lack plumes and has dull greenish legs and bill. Nonbreeding birds can be confused with Little Egret, but note Chinese Egret's thicker bill, proportionally stouter legs, orangish base to the bill, and dark lores with a shallow crook between eyes and bill. Light morph of Pacific Reef-Heron may also be similar, but average much thicker-billed and thicker-legged than Chinese. Moves between craggy islands and coastlines when breeding; winters in mangroves, estuaries, and mudflats.
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