European greenfinch
The European greenfinch or simply the greenfinch is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.
This bird is widespread throughout Europe, North Africa and Southwest Asia. It is mainly resident, but some northernmost populations migrate further south. The greenfinch has also been introduced into Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay, and Argentina.
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".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.
Subspecies
There are 10 recognised subspecies.| Image | Name and describing authority | Range |
| C. c. harrisoni Clancey, 1940 | Great Britain and Ireland | |
| C. c. chloris | Northern Scotland, northern and central France and Norway to western Siberia | |
| C. c. muehlei Parrot, 1905 | Serbia and Montenegro to Moldova, Bulgaria, and Greece | |
| C. c. aurantiiventris | Southern Spain through southern Europe to western Greece | |
| C. c. madaraszi Tschusi, 1911 | Corsica and Sardinia | |
| C. c. vanmarli Voous, 1952 | Northwestern Spain, Portugal and northwestern Morocco | |
| C. c. voousi | Central Morocco and northern Algeria | |
| C. c. chlorotica | South-central Turkey to northeastern Egypt | |
| C. c. bilkevitchi Zarudny, 1911 | Southern Ukraine, the Caucasus and northeastern Turkey to northern Iran and southwestern Turkmenistan | |
| C. c. turkestanica Zarudny, 1907 | Southern Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan and central Tajikistan |
Description
The European greenfinch is long with a wingspan of. 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.
Behaviour and ecology
Breeding
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 and weigh. 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.
In Australasia, the European greenfinch's breeding season is from October to March.