MarkyMark's Nature Blog: MarkyMark's Nature Blog:- Garden Birds #12

Goldfinch - Photo by Mark Appleton

So back to sitting in my sisters garden during lockdown. Some of us don't have gardens or cannot get to a green space in these difficult times, so I will attempt to bring a little bit of nature or colour to you in this blog. Why colour, because I will bring you three of the colourful birds that visit our gardens. Therefore I need to apologize to the not so colourful garden birds that don't get a mention, I still love you. So I don't feel as guilty, a quick mention for the top 5 most popular garden bird visitors in this years RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch:-

1. House Sparrow
2. Starling
3. Blue Tit
4. Woodpigeon
5. Blackbird

Many garden birds are essentially woodland birds and many can be tempted by food and water and some within range can be lured in to add some colour and variation to your visiting garden birds.

Goldfinch
Goldfinch are number 6 on the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch list. They love feeders filled with Niger seeds. You can get special feeders with small slits in so that the Goldfinches can use their specialized bills to get them.

Goldfinch - Photo by Mark Appleton

Goldfinch taking off - Photo by Mark Appleton

I often hear the goldfinches flight call whilst they are flying above my sisters garden. It is almost metallic sounding as they keep contact with each other. It is hard to describe, click on the link for their call and song:- Goldfinch song

Goldfinch - Photo by Mark Appleton

Did you know:-

European Goldfinches were introduced successfully to both Australia and New Zealand over 100 years ago.

Young Goldfinches lack the red face of the adult, and are often known as grey pates.

The popularity of Goldfinches as a cage bird in Victorian Britain led to huge numbers being trapped to supply demand, causing the population to crash.

A group of Goldfinches is called a Charm of Goldfinches. I guess we have a Charm of Goldfinches below:-

Charm of Goldfinch - Photo by Mark Appleton

For more information about the Goldfinch, click on the following links:-

RSPB - Goldfinch
Garden Birds - Goldfinch
Woodland Trust - Goldfinch

Next up is

Chaffinch (see the odd one out below)

Chaffinch with Goldfinch - Photo by Mark Appleton

The Chaffinch has dropped out of the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch top 10 this year by two places to number 11. Chaffinches readily visit bird feeders, mainly for mixed seed; they will feed on hanging feeders, bird tables and also on the ground.

Chaffinch - Photo by Mark Appleton

The chaffinch has a distinctive song that sounds like a train chuffing, descending in scale ending with a final sound like 'weetchoo'. For the Chaffinch song click on this link :- Chaffinch song

Male Chaffinch -Photo by Mark Appleton

The pictures here are of the male Chaffinch, the female is much duller and browner in colour and sparrow-like but can be identified with distinctive white patches on the wings and white outer tail feathers and same shape angular head as the males.

Male Chaffinch - Photo by Mark Appleton

Did you know:-

In winter, all-male chaffinch flocks are not unusual, giving rise to the old country name of bachelor bird.

Although the male's song is a short and simple repetition of notes ending in a flourish, the Victorians greatly valued its ability as a songster, and huge numbers were trapped annually for the cage bird trade.

The Victorians used to hold singing matches between cock chaffinches, with the winner being the bird considered to have sung the most phrases in a 15-minute period.
They are one of the longest-lived of our perching birds, hence have a relatively low reproduction rate.

Chaffinch - Photo by Mark Appleton

For more information about the Chaffinch, click on the following links:-

RSPB - Chaffinch
Garden Birds - Chaffinch
Woodland Trust - Chaffinch

Last of my favourite colourful garden visitors today is the

Greenfinch

Greenfinch on garden feeder - Photo by Mark Appleton

The Greenfinch is no longer as common in our gardens as it once was. This year it was position 18 in ranking for visits to UK gardens in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. The population has decreased by nearly 60% in the last 10 years. This is partly due to a disease called Trichomonosis and spread by parasites on dirty bird feeders and tables. Please make sure you clean your feeders and tables with disinfectant to ensure we still have these beautiful birds visit our parks and gardens.

Greenfinch - Photo by Mark Appleton

The Greenfinch sings loud trills from treetops as well as rooftop aerials. It has a twittering wheezing song that can be heard by clicking on this link:-Greenfinch song

Greenfinches are about the size of house sparrows. Males are dull-olive green with greenish-yellow on the breast and rump, and have bright yellow wing flashes. Female greenfinches are duller and browner than males but still have yellow wing flashes.

Greenfinch - Photo by Mark Appleton

Did you know:-

Young greenfinches can be confusing to identify as they lack the distinctive yellow on their primaries and tail that the adults show.

British birds generally start breeding in early April, with their first clutches complete by the end of the month and two broods usually attempted by each pair.