Common chaffinch
Fringilla coelebs
Donsky · Vake-Saburtalo, Tbilisi Georgia field photo
Key facts in one look
- Diet
- Seeds, buds and invertebrates
- Status in Georgia
- Resident, breeding
- Recorded regions
- Every region of Georgia
- Size
- About 14.5 cm
- Habitat
- Woods, orchards and parks
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Protection
- Globally LC (2018)
The common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) is one of the commonest birds in Georgia. It is a native breeding bird and can be seen all year round. It is about 14.5 cm long and weighs 18–25 g, about the size of a house sparrow. The male has a reddish-pink breast and cheeks, a blue-grey crown and nape and a chestnut back. The female is greyish-brown. Both sexes have two white bars on the wing and white outer tail feathers, which show well in flight. It is harmless to people. It has been recorded in every region of Georgia, from the seashore to high mountains. Most observations come from Tbilisi, Mtskheta-Mtianeti and Kakheti. Globally its risk of extinction is low (LC), and it is not on the 2014 Red List of Georgia.
Identification
Common chaffinch: how to identify it
A house-sparrow-sized bird with two white wing bars and white tail edges. The male has a pinkish breast and a bluish head; the female is greyish-brown. It often feeds on the ground in woods, orchards and parks.
It is about 14.5 cm long and weighs 18–25 g, about 22 g on average. The female is slightly smaller than the male. The wings are black, with a large white shoulder patch and a white wing bar, so two white bars show on the wing. The outer tail feathers are white, which shows well in flight.
In spring and summer the male has a brick-pink breast, a blue-grey crown and nape and a chestnut back. In winter the colours are duller, because the feathers have buff tips. By spring these tips wear off and the male is bright again. The female is greyish-brown all year, with the same white wing bars.
The female can be mistaken for a female house sparrow, but the chaffinch is slimmer, has no dark streaks on the back and has clear white wing bars. The brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) has an orange breast and a white rump, which the chaffinch lacks. The call is a short "chink-chink". The male's song is a fast, descending trill that ends in a sharp flourish.
Colour
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
Often confused with
The common chaffinch lives in deciduous, mixed and coniferous woods of the lowlands and lower mountains. It slightly prefers beech, hornbeam, oak, spruce and pine. It also occurs at forest edges and in glades, copses, orchards, shelterbelts, city parks and yards wherever there are trees or bushes. In winter it also feeds in fields and on stubble. It has been recorded in every region of Georgia. Many observations come from Tbilisi: Saburtalo, Vake and Lisi Lake. In Mtskheta-Mtianeti it is often seen in Mtskheta Municipality and on the northern edge of Tbilisi, around Gldani. Also from Kakheti, at Chandari, Tsinandali and Sighnaghi, from Kvemo Kartli at Lake Kumisi, and from Shida Kartli at Nadarbazevi Lake. It is also seen in the mountains: in Bakuriani, Borjomi, Bakhmaro, Ushguli and Kazbegi Municipality. On the Black Sea coast it occurs in Adjara and Abkhazia, near Batumi, Pitsunda and Gagra.
The common chaffinch map combines public iNaturalist observations. Regions are taken from the records-by-region table, and the status column separates regions with enough records from regions with too few records. The chaffinch is confirmed in every region of Georgia, with records in every month of the year. Record counts reflect observation effort rather than population density.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Photo record
- Region with records
Its diet is varied: small invertebrates and their larvae, seeds and buds. The chicks are fed on invertebrates. In winter it eats mainly seeds, often on the ground, under trees, in fields and in orchards. It often comes to seed feeders too.
In Georgia it is a native breeding bird. Observations come from every month, most from November to March and fewest in August and September. Northern and north-eastern populations move south and south-west between mid-September and the end of November. Outside the breeding season it forms flocks of various sizes, often with other finches and buntings, especially where food is plentiful. In winter bramblings may join them. It breeds from mid-March to mid-July. During breeding the male defends a territory and sings a lot. The female builds the nest: a deep, neat cup of grass, roots, moss, bark strips, hair and feathers, camouflaged with lichen on the outside. The nest is on a tree or bush branch, against the trunk or in a fork, sometimes as high as 35 m. It usually lays 4–5 eggs. The female incubates for 12–13 days. The chicks leave the nest after about 13–15 days, and the parents keep feeding them afterwards.
Globally the common chaffinch's risk of extinction is rated low (LC, 2018). Its range and numbers are huge: a preliminary estimate puts mature birds at 500–800 million, and in Europe numbers rose moderately in 1980–2013. It is trapped in some countries. In Britain numbers have fallen sharply in recent years, which is linked to a bird disease, trichomonosis. It is not on the 2014 Red List of Georgia. In an updated assessment (2021) that has not yet been approved, its risk in Georgia is also rated low (LC) and its numbers stable.
Donsky · strangeviewer · Denis Koksharov · Nikita Tiunov · Tatiana Chimera
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Yes, it is one of the commonest birds in Georgia. It is native, breeds here and is seen all year.
In every region, from the seashore to high mountains: in woods, at forest edges, in orchards, city parks and yards. In Tbilisi it is often seen in Saburtalo, Vake and at Lisi Lake.
It is the size of a house sparrow, with two white wing bars and white tail edges. The male has a pinkish breast, a blue-grey head and a chestnut back; the female is greyish-brown.
The brambling has an orange breast and shows a white rump in flight. The chaffinch has a pinkish breast and its rump is not white. In Georgia the brambling comes only in winter.
It is about 14.5 cm long and weighs 18–25 g.
Seeds, buds, small invertebrates and their larvae. It feeds its chicks on invertebrates and eats mainly seeds in winter.
The common chaffinch is harmless to people. Globally its risk of extinction is low. It is not on the 2014 Red List of Georgia. Do not catch the bird or keep it in a cage.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
