Almost every resident of Russia is familiar with a bird the size of a sparrow - the finch. Unlike its urban counterpart, the finch can be easily spotted by its bright color. The males are especially different here: they have a bright red chest and greenish-brown back, and a blue head. Females look less remarkable; they are duller in color. In their nature life cycle does not last more than two years, but in captivity finches live up to 12 years.

Bird habitat

Finch nests can be found throughout our country. In addition, finches can be found in North Africa, Asia and Europe. Truly unique creations. Despite small size, They easily fly long distances. Most often, birds settle in forest areas, but you can meet them in urban areas. With global urbanization, some began to settle next to people and benefit from this proximity. Therefore, noticeable birds can be seen in an ordinary park and garden.

Brief description of the appearance of the finch

It is worth looking carefully at the appearance of the birds. If you have seen a photo of a finch bird, you will think that he not much different from a sparrow. This is partly true. Males:

1. small size;
2. with a sharp gray beak;
3. on the head there is a cap of bluish plumage with a grayish tint;
4. There is a small rusty stain on the breast. The back is brick shade. Fun fact: The color of the beak changes with the seasons. In winter it is brown, and in warm time- blue.

Female chaffinches look paler compared to males. A calm color scheme is needed for hatching chicks. In this case, the female merges with the nest and it is difficult for predators to notice her. Therefore, their back is dark brown, but their breast is not much different. By

Since the finch belongs to the finch family, its diet consists of insects. This is especially noticeable in mating season, that is, from May to July. In this segment finches only eat insects, since successful reproduction requires an abundance of protein food. By the way, small birds bring serious benefits to agriculture. They eat dangerous pests - butterflies and dipterous beetles. In other words, those who actively harm human plantings.

In rare cases, the bird switches to food plant origin. Seeds, fruits, berries. It is nutrition that poses the main difficulty in keeping birds in captivity. Since it is extremely difficult to provide them with constant access to insects.

Migratory season

Birds in September begin to fly to warmer climes. This is especially true for those flocks that live in central Russia. Some birds that live in the south of the country have adapted to wintering in place and have adapted to them. Many flocks simply fly to neighboring regions. They all return to their native lands.

Finch: Will or Captivity

It used to be fashionable to keep a finch at home. He became famous as a skilled singer along with the nightingale. It has been observed that birds live longer in captivity. A distinctive feature of the finch: it takes a long time to get used to a new place and the absence of singing during this period. They very impressionable, so I can get scared and die. Therefore, they are not suitable for keeping in an apartment.

As a result of artificial selection, it was possible to breed the ornamental finch. But even they sang only in the presence of a person when he was completely motionless. As soon as the person moved, the bird began to frantically beat against the bars of the cage, causing injury to itself. Therefore, they were kept separately, covering the cage with a blanket. At night, waking up, the bird also began to beat against the cage. Because of complex nutrition the bird often gets obesity and eye problems.

Therefore, despite their beauty and singing abilities, such pets are not adapted to captivity.

In nature, finches breed in the warm season, making several clutches of eggs. Nests are made in May; incubation takes two months in total. Therefore, birds often manage to hatch two broods during a season. Males have been repeatedly observed to be polygamous, that is, to impregnate several females at the same time. There are up to eight eggs in a clutch. After about three weeks, the chicks leave the nests.

Bird nests are also noteworthy. They are small. Males cover them with lichen and moss to hide their family from birds of prey. Thanks to the coloring of the feathers, the females fit perfectly into the objects around her and this makes her invisible.

Distinctive features of the chicks:

1. Down instead of feathers;
2. A kind of cap on the head;
3. The first flight is attempted two weeks after hatching;
4. Both parents feed: insects. Most often by bugs or caterpillars;

As you can see, there are many interesting specimens among small birds. Even with small sizes, such a pet can get into your soul. But not all birds can be kept in captivity, no matter how much you would like to keep a singer in your apartment. That's why it is better to choose parrots or canaries, since they are accustomed to being kept at home.

To the question: Does the finch fly to hot countries in winter? THANK YOU! given by the author Ask the best answer is No, finches do not fly to Africa... Some birds (especially old males) winter in Central Europe, the rest fly south (mainly to the Mediterranean). It is also common in winter in the foothill forests of the Caucasus. It is not afraid of the cold and flies in early spring when there is snow on the fields. Yes, and it flies away late autumn, in the cold, as people say “chilly” time. That's why they called it a chaffinch. The name of this bird is given by the time of departure. In our area, the finch is a nomadic and migrant, arriving in Moscow from wintering grounds in April.

Answer from Yovetlana Dubrovsky[guru]
Most finches are migratory birds. Many of them spend the winter in nesting areas - mostly males. This fact was already noticed by C. Linnaeus, who, while looking for a name for this species, chose the word “widower” (coelebs). Finches spend the winter in the south and west of Europe. Their spring migration occurs in March - April, and their autumn migration in September - October. Flocks, as a rule, are divided by gender - males arrive at nesting sites earlier than females and immediately occupy nesting areas, the boundaries of which are marked by intense singing (sedentary males sometimes sing as early as February). After mating, the female immediately begins choosing a place for the nest. The nest is considered one of the best among those that birds build: it is firmly woven from moss and soft stems, the outside is camouflaged with lichen from the trees where finches nest, as well as insect cocoons and cobwebs, which makes it almost invisible.

Answer from European[guru]

Answer from Elena Kim[guru]
The arrival of finches is one of the first dates of spring after the return of rooks, starlings and larks. There is slush outside, a brown mixture of melted snow and mud. A warm and humid breeze, full of spring scents, is blowing. In the gardens, great tits loudly repeat their ringing chant: “chi-chi-fi... chi-chi-fi...” In the villages, near the barns and straw sweeps, the buntings are already humming their ringing “zin-zin-zin...” It is at this time that we hear the first, leading finches. Their sharp “ping-ping-ping”, similar to the cry of tits, is heard loudly from the tops of bare trees. The singing has not yet been heard. The birds are obviously tired and silent. If you come closer and look through binoculars, you can see that these are only males. They have brownish chest and cheeks, a noticeably dark top, bluish-gray head, and distinct white stripes on the wings - the most characteristic feature in finch coloring. There are no females (grayish-brown, almost monochromatic) yet. They arrive a few days later. Therefore, Linnaeus two hundred years ago called the chaffinch (in Latin) a “single” finch. Flocks of finches quickly move in the spring to summer places, usually returning to their homeland, and sometimes even to the same gardens and groves where they nested last year. By the end of April, the birds have already filled their entire nesting area - in the European part of Russia from the Crimea and the Caucasus to White Sea, and in Asia almost the entire Western Siberia - from Kazakhstan to Tobolsk and east to Krasnoyarsk Territory. Outside Russia, the finch lives in summer throughout Europe and northwestern Africa, as well as in the mountains of Asia Minor, Palestine and Iran. In the Caucasus, Crimea, Trans-Caspian region and Western Europe, several subspecies of finch have been identified, differing in the shades of color of the back and abdomen. Our finches winter in Transcaucasia, and Western Siberian ones - in Kazakhstan. To the south, wintering grounds reach Egypt, but in warm winters Some birds linger on the southern coast of Crimea, and sometimes in Ukraine and even further north, almost to the middle zone of the European part of Russia. A day or two after arrival, if the weather is not too severe, you can hear the first song of the finch - a cheerful, distinct trill, sounding like “fu-fu-fu-di-di-di-la-la-la-vi-chiu.” This last sharp cry of “wi-chiu” (“stroke”) is very characteristic of the chaffinch’s song. You can recognize a finch by it even among a polyphonic forest choir. It is worth dwelling in more detail on the song of the finch. It usually consists of several knees. The song is not continuous, as, for example, that of a lark or a goldfinch, but is completely complete, has its own definite beginning, middle and end. Having sung once, the finch starts again, but sometimes changes some syllables (most often the end). There are singers who have two or three different tunes, performed in turn. Each male's song is structured and sounds unique (preserving the general finch type), so that with a certain skill one can distinguish several singers by their voices. One finch has a short song, as if “chopped”, another has a noticeably longer, “scattered” song, a third has a double song, etc., with endless variations. Sometimes the finch constructs its song from borrowed parts of songs and from the calls of other birds (the so-called “copying”). The sounds of others are especially often borrowed for the first part of a song. Sometimes a finch starts out just like a tree pipit, a bunting, or even imitating a river warbler, and then continues “like a finch” and always ends with its usual “stroke.” Often the finch at the end of the song, after the last sharp sound, “stroke”, makes a “push”: it ends with “whi-chiu”, and then - “kick”. Some individuals even make two pushes. Among amateurs, this shock is considered a defect in the song.

The finch, which belongs to the genus of finches, is called the bullfinch, chaffinch, and zyabok. In most of the range, birds return from the South by the end of March, when the snow has not yet melted everywhere. People say that in early spring finch sings to frost.

But this is not the only version of the origin of the name. The ruffled appearance and the abrupt end of the trill suggest that the bird is chilling and is taking its breath away from the cold.

Description and features

For the most part Russian Federation, former Union republics, countries Western Europe and the Middle East, the most common finch is the European one. Its long 11-mm sharp beak is brown, except during the mating season, when a blue tint appears.

The entire lower part, throat and cheeks are brownish-brown or wine, the back is a shade lighter. The neck and cap on the head of the finch are gray-blue in color; a contrasting black spot stands out above the beak.

Just below the back, the colors include yellow and green tones. The wings are outlined with a white border. White spots located diagonally are present on the sides of the tail. Such intense coloring adorns males starting from the second year of life.

Finch in the photo in breeding plumage it looks elegant. Females and older chicks are much paler and more expressionless. Brown and grayish tones predominate. Average length The body of the European finch is 16 cm, the tail is 7 cm, weight is 22 g.

Despite the fact that the bird flies quickly, it spends most of its time on the ground, moving in leaps and bounds in search of food. Because of this, they often die from attacks by predators.

Finch sounds attractive and calls. In different situations - in case of danger (“sii”, “hyut”, “tew”), take-off (“tyup”), courtship (“xip”), begging (“chirrup”) the bird makes up to seven signals. For a long time It was believed that the finches warn of rain with the sound “ryu-ryu”. But recent observations have shown that there is no connection between the “rumbling” and the weather phenomenon. The signal corresponds to the bird's alarm state.

If an individual performs 3–6 melodies, then the population numbers up to twenty. finch singing begins with a whistle, turns into trills, repeated every three seconds, and ends with a sharp, abrupt sound - a flourish. Melodies vary depending on the subspecies and habitat.

The older the male, the more varied his roulades, since experience accumulates over time and is adopted from relatives and other species. Females and grown chicks are only capable of simplified, monotonous sounds. If in the spring a bird sings loudly and willingly, then by mid-summer the molting period begins and it is rarely heard. The melodies sound muffled.

Kinds

The systematization of finch subspecies includes 18 names. Features- size, plumage color, distribution area. In addition to the described European finch, 3 more subspecies are found on the territory of the Russian Federation and the former Union republics:

1. Caucasian

In summer, the finch lives in the Crimea and the Caucasus. In winter it is found in northern Iran and southern Transcaucasia. It settles in the forests of the foothills and mountains at an altitude of up to 2.5 thousand meters above sea level. Body length up to 13 cm, massive high beak, coloring like the European one. Distinctive features- a calling “kick” cry, more like a big call, less attractive vocal data.

1. Hyrcanian

The undergrowth is dark in color, small in shape. Settlements discovered in northern Iran, nesting in southern regions Transcaspia. The back is dark brown, the underside has a red tint, the head and neck are dark ash.

1. Kopetdag

The bird is pale, with voluminous areas of white color on the tail and wings. The distribution area is the territory of the Turkmen highlands of Kopetdag. Ornithologists admit that this subspecies is a variation of the Hyrcanian finch.

Lifestyle and habitat

Settles in bird finch in deciduous, mixed, coniferous forests. Doesn't like the wilderness, where it is difficult to find food on the ground. Preference is given to sparse light forests and artificial plantings with mature trees and a cool microclimate. Often found in park areas, country houses, gardens personal plots.

Many are sure that finch migratory bird. It depends on the place of settlement. Flocks that have chosen middle lane Russia, Siberia go to the coast in winter Mediterranean Sea, to the floodplains Central Asia. Some flocks reach the Canary, British Isles, North Africa, represented by Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria.

If finches initially settled in the southern regions, they lead a sedentary lifestyle or roam to short distances to neighboring regions without crossing country borders.

Before departure, the birds gather in flocks of up to one hundred individuals. They fly fast -50–55 km/h. For rest and food, they make long stops in the territories of small settlements, where they can refresh themselves. The flight is spread out over time and occurs in waves, but the bulk of the birds go to warmer climes in September. The flocks are heterogeneous; finches often join them.

They return to their permanent nesting sites from the end of February to the end of April. The further south the area is located, the earlier the birds appear. The males arrive first; their arrival is determined by their loud mating songs. The females arrive a week later.

The decline in the number of species is affected by deterioration environmental situation. From year to year, the area of ​​deforestation increases, and the amount of agricultural land and forest plantations treated with pesticides does not decrease. Unfavorable ones play a negative role weather.

Birds have a lot natural enemies, represented by squirrels, large birds (magpie, jay, crow,). During the nesting period, they destroy clutches and small chicks. The bird behaves carelessly while singing.

Getting carried away by roulades, male finch raises and throws his head back, neither seeing nor hearing anything around.

Main part daylight hours finches spend their time sitting on a branch, slowly moving sideways along it, or moving in leaps and bounds along the ground, looking for food. They fly at high speed and in waves.

During the mating and nesting period they create pairs, the rest of the time they stay in flocks. Thanks to their endurance, unpretentiousness and quick adaptation to their environment, finches are common in Europe. Their number reaches 95 million pairs.

The finch's singing encourages some people to keep the birds in captivity. If you have no experience, then it is better to choose another species that is easily tamed. Some individuals become attached to the owner, but for the most part the birds remain wild until death.

To adapt, the finch is placed in a spacious enclosure or a small cage covered with soft cloth. Having transplanted it into a permanent home, they cover it with a light-colored cloth, since when a person approaches, the bird hits the bars violently and does not calm down for a long time.

To hear the song, the male is kept alone, without a pair. In the presence of a person, the bird sings only when he is motionless. The dwelling is equipped with a bathhouse and perches. Place low containers with seedlings of spruce or pine.

The finch is fed canary seed, mealworms, ant eggs, meat and cereals. Hemp seed is allowed, but in limited quantities, since food with a high oil content leads to eye disease and abscesses.

Nutrition

IN wildlife Parents feed the chicks with larvae, caterpillars, dipterans, and arachnids. In plant food, the amount of which increases with long rains or later nesting includes:

• seeds, tops of pine and spruce seedlings;
• oats;
• bearberry, irga.

Adult common finch from mid-summer it flies to garden plots to eat berries. Loves the seeds of sorrel, elderberry, violet, bird buckwheat, and primrose. A little later, the seeds of weeds (nettle, quinoa) ripen, which the bird consumes before flying off for the winter.

In the spring-summer period, most of the diet consists of protein foods;

• flies;
• moth caterpillars;
• weevils.

Green parts of plants, flowers, and buds were found in the stomachs of birds. The finch is useful for the forest, Agriculture, as it rids forests and crops of insect pests.

Reproduction and lifespan

Upon arrival from wintering, males check their area. If he is already busy with someone, fights occur. More often, fights occur between young birds that have never nested and adult finches. The period is marked by aggressiveness, fussiness, and loud, abrupt sounds.

After expelling a stranger from the territory, males, with ringing singing, indicate their possessions and attract females who have flown in with warm countries a week later. Beautiful melodic trills and bright breeding plumage do their job. The female flies up to the call, sits next to her, raising her tail and starting to “zizk.”

Finches make cup-shaped nests

After pair formation, at the end of March or beginning of May, the birds search suitable tree, where a cozy finch nest. Spruce, birch, pine, alder are suitable. Less commonly used are maple, willow, oak, and linden, which are distinguished by their dark trunk and branches.

Ornithologists have discovered nests at a height of 15 meters, 40 centimeters, but the majority are located from a meter to four meters from the ground on wide paws coniferous species or in the forks of branches closer to the trunk. Creates a home for future chicks female finch, although both future parents participate in the collection of building material.

An early start to settling does not mean that eggs will be laid soon. Sometimes construction is delayed for a long time due to inclement weather. If a tree with dark bark is chosen, then the nest has to be made several times, starting from scratch.

Finch chicks look very funny

A clearly visible object attracts the attention of other birds, who take advantage of the moment to take away and use materials to arrange their nesting sites. Taught by bitter experience, finches subsequently camouflage their homes well, practically invisible from the outside.

finch nest cup-shaped with a diameter of up to a meter and a height of half as much, it is created from different proportions of twigs, herbaceous plants and moss. In some cases, their parts are equal, in others, twigs with blades of grass make up the frame, and the walls and bottom are covered with moss. Sometimes there is much less moss than twigs.

The finch uses web threads to connect material that makes the 3-centimeter walls strong. The masonry pillow is made from plant fluff, feathers, and wool. For the purpose of camouflage, the top of the structure is trimmed with birch bark and light lichen. Small pieces of paper, cotton wool, and gauze were found in nests located near the city limits.

To find out How do finches breed?, you need to monitor them starting from the second ten days of May. At this time, a nondescript female with plumage merging with environment, lays eggs. There are from three to seven of them.

The color is pale greenish and bluish with blurry reddish or closer to purple color small inclusions. For two weeks of incubating the clutch, the male tirelessly takes care of his girlfriend and the future brood, bringing food, protecting the nest from natural enemies.

Chaffinch chicks hatch from the shell red, naked with down on the head and back. Parents feed them for 14 days. During the period of intensive growth, only animal protein is required. Later, the diet is diluted with seeds and grain. After the young birds take wing, they do not fly far from the nest, but continue to take food from their parents for another seven days.

In regions with a hot climate, female finches hatch another clutch, where there are fewer eggs than in the first. The final departure of the young from the nest occurs in August. In September the birds become completely independent. At home, finches live up to 12 years. In the wild they die earlier.

Almost every resident of Russia has at least once in his life met a small sparrow-like bird - the finch. Despite the resemblance to a sparrow, it is not difficult to distinguish between these two representatives of the passerine order. Finches have brighter colors, especially males. They boast a red chest, a blue head and a brown back with a green tint over their motley counterparts.

Nature has endowed females with a less remarkable color; their plumage is not surprising in the brightness of its colors; it looks faded in comparison with males. IN natural conditions these birds rarely live to the age of three, while in captivity they can live more than ten years.

It is worth taking a closer look at the appearance of these birds. Many note their resemblance to sparrows, but the color of finches is their distinctive feature. The males of this species stand out especially:

1. Finches are small birds. Their body length rarely reaches twenty centimeters, and their weight is thirty grams.
2. The beak is small and sharp, colored gray.
3. The plumage on the head and neck is bluish or dark blue.
4. The throat, cheeks and chest have rusty, dark red or even burgundy feathers.
5. The forehead is painted black, and the tail is black with a dark green tint.
6. The back has brick or reddish-brown plumage.
7. Each wing has two bright stripes.

In autumn, birds begin their molting period and the new plumage of males becomes as faded as that of females. Then the colors become more saturated and become brighter and more provocative during the mating season.

The beak color of finches changes depending on the time of year.. In winter it takes on a brown tint, and in spring and summer it turns bluish.

The color of the females is not surprising with its riot of colors. Their plumage is painted in more faded colors. This is necessary in order to make the bird less noticeable to predators. This color is especially helpful during the egg hatching period. The female blends into the surrounding landscape and does not attract the attention of unwanted persons. Female finches have brown feathers on their backs, and their chests are colored the same as those of males. In general, their color is more subdued and has a dark green tint.

Grown-up chicks are covered with the same plumage as that of females, but then, at the first molt as adult birds, their feathers acquire the desired color, depending on the sex

Habitat of the common finch

Common finches inhabit the entire territory of Russia, as well as Europe. You can also find them in northern Africa and Asia. Ornithologists consider finches to be truly unique creatures, and this opinion is completely justified. Despite their small size, these birds are able to easily fly long distances, seas and oceans. Finches prefer to settle in forest areas, but thanks a large number cities, these birds can be found in city parks, gardens and squares. People are treated calmly and have long learned to benefit and benefit from such a neighborhood.

Migratory season

Although finches are considered migratory birds, some flocks prefer to stay indoors for the winter and cope well with the cold winter climate. The remaining birds at the end of summer begin to gather in groups of fifty to one hundred individuals and in September fly to Central Europe, Asia, Crimea and Kazakhstan. There they wait out the harsh Russian winter and return to their homeland in the spring.

Not all flocks make long flights; some individuals prefer to simply move to neighboring more southern regions and stay there for the winter. When flying to the South, finches develop a speed of about fifty-five kilometers per hour. Periodically, the birds stop for several days, where they rest and feed.

Finches that remain to spend the winter in their native region also gather in groups and winter time move from forests to meadows, fields and other open areas. Finches or sparrows often flock to them, and finches graciously accept them into their flocks.

The name of the finch bird comes from words such as chill and freeze, since they fly to warm regions only with the onset of cold weather, and return home at the very beginning of spring. Our ancestors had many signs associated with these wonderful birds, for example, they believed that the finch sings when there is frost, and if it is seen in winter or early spring, it means warming. In Latin, the name of this bird is Fringilla, which means cold.

Ornithologists divide finches into:

• Sedentary.
• Nomadic.
• Migratory.

The lifestyle of these birds directly depends on the geography of their habitat.

Lifestyle and character

Finches fly very quickly and move along the ground by jumping. These birds are virtuoso singers. They have a pleasant, ringing and loud voice, similar to a lark, but with varying personality.

Finches' songs consist of three-second melodies. Between them the bird makes short pauses. Young individuals are easy to perform, but gradually learn from more mature individuals, gain experience and improve their skills.

Ornithologists note that finches different regions differ from each other in their sound. If a finch is a nomad and periodically changes its place of residence, then some time after the migration, its songs become similar to the songs of its new neighbors. Each finch has its own repertoire, which includes a maximum of ten compositions, and the bird performs them in turn.

With the help of finches you can predict the weather. Experts have identified a pattern - if a bird sings a song reminiscent of the sounds of “ryu-ryu”, then it will rain in the near future. Finches begin singing immediately after returning from wintering, and finish in July.

Before leaving for warmer climes birds sing quietly and very rarely or not at all. Finches that are kept at home begin their songs in the middle of winter.

IN Lately Many songbird lovers are eager to get a finch. But these creatures not intended for keeping at home. Finches - wild birds, they feel very uncomfortable in the cage, experience stress and do not stop trying to get out. In such cramped conditions, finches may develop eye problems or obesity. And choosing food for such birds is quite problematic.

Diet

Finches eat plants and various insects. These birds have a strong beak, strong facial muscles and a special structure of the palate, which allows them to easily crack through the hard shells and shells of bugs.

The diet includes:

• Weed seeds, cones.
• Young buds and leaves from bushes and trees.
• Flowers and berries.
• Various insects.

Agricultural workers often blame finches for damaging crops, but these birds can confidently be called helpers. They destroy weed seeds in large quantities, which provides significant benefits to fields with cultivated plantings and forests.

Reproduction

Flocks of females and males return from wintering separately. Male birds arrive earlier to occupy a territory for future nesting. Then the males begin to sing songs similar to the chirping of chicks, thus luring the females into their possessions.

The breeding season for finches begins at the very beginning of spring. When choosing a territory, males choose separate areas that have their own boundaries and differ in area. Adults choose the same places every year. The finches carefully monitor the boundaries of their possessions and any wandering competitor is immediately expelled. Often young animals start fights with more mature males in order to recapture their territory or narrow the boundaries.

During the mating season, male finches behave like real bullies. They swear and fight among themselves, sing songs vying with each other. The female chooses the male she likes and flies closer to him. Then she starts dating. In order to meet the gentleman they like, chaffinch girls do this:

1. They bend their paws.
2. Raise the wings and tail.
3. They throw their heads up.

All these actions are accompanied by a quiet squeaking sound, like “zi-zi”. Birds can meet in this way directly on the ground or on tree branches.

After about a month, the birds begin building a nest. The main one in this matter is the female, while the male appears as an assistant. Ornithologists have found that to create a home, the female has to fly for materials no less than one thousand three hundred times. Finches build nests almost everywhere, but most often they can be seen at a height of four meters, among the branches of a tree.

Construction of the nest lasts approximately one week; the finished structure resembles a bowl with a diameter of up to one hundred centimeters. To build a home, birds use:

• Grass.
• Thin roots.
• Twigs and twigs.

All materials are fastened together with cobwebs.

The walls of the nest are very strong, their thickness can reach two and a half centimeters. The outer part of the bird's home is decorated with moss and tree bark. Inside the nest there is a feather duster consisting of down, feathers and animal hairs. This creates a warm and well-camouflaged shelter.

Females lay three to six greenish eggs with red speckles. While she is incubating the chicks, the male takes responsibility for caring and feeding the mother. About two weeks after laying, the chicks appear. At first they have bare red skin and a little dark fuzz on their head and back.

At first, the babies are absolutely helpless, and the parents independently obtain food for them and put it directly into the chicks’ beaks. At this time, under no circumstances should you approach the nests of these birds, as they may fly away and never return. In this case, the chicks are doomed to starvation or death from predators.

Towards mid-June, the chicks will already be covered with their first plumage, gain strength and begin to attempt to fly out of the nest. Parents will accompany and help them on flights for about a month.

Finches most often die from inattention and carelessness, from the paws of predators or people.

The finch is the most numerous of the songbirds living in Europe. As ornithologists sometimes joke, this is the name given to scientists who study the habits of birds - there are more finches in Europe than the population of Europe itself, and more seriously, the number of finches ranges from 80 to one hundred million pairs. It is interesting that finches in the wild do not live more than two years, although in captivity the life expectancy of a finch is not the limit of 10 years.

Of all the species of songbirds, the finch has been the most studied by scientists, this is evidenced by the fact that they counted more than 450 varieties of finches and identified more than 10 “conversational” signals in the finch song, with the help of which the birds communicate with each other.

These include signals of courtship, begging, and warnings to an intruder. The chaffinch's song is usually short, up to 3 seconds, and is more like a dialogue. The female finch is less sociable than the male, sings less often, and her song is not very diverse.

Bird finch photo and description

What does a finch bird look like? easy to remember from the photo. Let's try to describe the finch in words. First of all, the size, the finch is no larger than a sparrow. The color of the plumage makes it easy to distinguish a male finch from a female. Like other songbirds, the female's coloration is duller.

The male finch looks like this photo the back is brown with a green tint, the crop, wings, tail and chest are brown with redness, the head is bluish-gray, there are white spots or stripes on the wings.

The favorite habitats of the finch bird are not dense mixed forests, forest belts, parks and gardens. The finch avoids remote places, but it can often be found near human habitation, in the garden, as well as in thickets of bushes along rivers and lakes. Apparently, this way of living is associated with food production.

The finch feeds on the seeds of trees, herbs, and grain, does not disdain the green leaves of plants, and in the summer it cleans gardens and vegetable gardens of insect pests with which it feeds the chicks.

Is the finch a migratory bird?

Finch migratory bird or not is a rhetorical question. It all depends on the area where he lives. In central Europe and the Caucasus it remains for the winter; from Europe the finch flies to winter in the Mediterranean. From us to the Caucasus and the south of Kazakhstan from the Urals and Siberia to Central Asia.

Birds return from wintering in early April, and by early June, the chicks in the finches family are already growing up and flying out of the nests. The second addition to the finch family usually appears in July, and from the end of September the birds begin leaving for the winter.

They look very impressive bird finch in winter against the backdrop of snow-covered trees, it would seem that they do not need support, but this is a deceptive opinion. Like any other bird, it is difficult for the finch to find food and humans must help it with this.

Keeping a finch at home.

Finch at home a desirable bird, since ancient times in Rus' the finch was considered a talisman hearth and home and family happiness, but problematic. The finch bird does not tolerate closed spaces at all; even in nature, unlike, for example, a nightingale or a siskin, it does not live in thickets. At the same time, the finch is extremely pugnacious by nature; two males never get along in the same cage.

Being placed in a cage, the finch hits the bars so hard, trying to free itself, that it breaks into blood. That's why keep finches only outside in a free enclosure and preferably built around a living tree.

Of course, you can try keeping one finch at home in a spacious cage, just to start, cover the cage with a cloth, it will calm the bird and it will stop beating.

Growing finch at home It’s still possible and brings a lot of pleasure to the owners. In terms of the beauty of their singing, finches are close to, although I, for example, like them better in terms of the beauty of their singing. Special singing tournaments with prizes are often held among finches.

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