Which birds arrive first in spring. Migratory bird common finch. Brief description of the appearance of the finch

Finch- one of the most common forest birds in Europe. This is a rather unpretentious creature to the habitat, which can be found not only in forests. City parks and gardens are the same home for them.

Finch Features and Habitat

finch bird represents the finches family. By description of the finch- a small bird with about , sometimes reaches a length of up to 20 cm, and weighs only about 30 g. However, it differs significantly from other birds in that it has a very bright plumage.

Males, especially in the mating season, look very defiant. Their neck and head are blue or dark blue. The breast, cheeks and throat are dark red or burgundy in color, the forehead and tail are black.

Two stripes of a bright shade located on each wing, and a green tail make the owner's appearance unforgettable. After molting in autumn, the color scheme of the bird's plumage becomes much more faded and brown tones begin to predominate.

The female finch has a more muted color, gray-green shades predominate in her color. Chicks - teenagers are more in color than females. There are a lot of subspecies of finches, they differ among themselves in size, beak, color and other features. In some areas, they occupy a leading place in terms of number among other small birds.

Finches are considered migratory birds, although some representatives adapt and stay for the winter, in the chosen territory. The European part of Russia, Siberia, the Caucasus is their summer place of residence.

In September, October, birds gather in groups of about 50 to 100 individuals and go to winter in Central Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor, Kazakhstan and Crimea.

Pictured is a female finch

hibernate finch maybe in neighboring, located to the south, regions. Birds fly to the South quickly, about 55 km / h. Along the way, the flock may stop in food-rich regions for several days.

With firm certainty, it can be argued that, depending on the region, finches are sedentary, nomadic and migratory birds. In winter, finches form flocks and live mainly in open areas. As a rule, these are meadows and fields. Finches and sparrows are often members of their flock.

When the finches arrive spring is just beginning and they can be observed in forests, groves, forest plantations and city parks. Favorite habitats are sparse spruce forests, mixed forests and light forests. In more often they do not nest, as they usually look for food on the surface of the earth. Mostly they fly to the places where they were last summer.

The origin of the name of the bird is from the word to freeze, to chill. After all, they arrive at the very beginning of spring and fly away at the beginning of cold weather. There is one old Russian sign that if you hear the song of a finch, it means frost and cold, but it means warmth. It is noteworthy that the Latin name of the feathered has one root with the word cold. Even our ancestors believed that the finch was the herald of spring.

The nature and lifestyle of the finch

common finch flies very fast, and on the surface of the earth prefers not to walk, but to jump. finch songs voiced, loud and highly variable individually, very similar to the trills of a lark, but have their own characteristics.

The duration of the melody is no more than three seconds, after a short pause it is repeated. Youngsters perform simpler melodies, learn from adults and acquire skill and virtuosity with age.

By the way, each region is characterized by an individual "dialect", finch sounds, vary depending on where you live. The feathered repertoire can include up to 10 songs, which she performs in turn.

Before the rain, the birds sing a kind of trill "ryu-ryu-ryu", so that these birds can predict the weather. If the finch sings finch voice can be heard from the moment of arrival until mid-summer. In the autumn period, finches sing less frequently and in a low voice. At home finch singing starts from January.

Now to hear finch voice, many seek to win it at home. However, this is not the most The best decision. The finch does not really like to sing in a cage, he is constantly nervous, trying to free himself, he may start having problems with his eyes and obesity. In addition, it is quite difficult to choose a diet for this bird.

Finch nutrition

The finch feeds on plant food or insects. The peculiarity of the sky of the bird, a strong beak and strong facial muscles make it easy to break both beetle shells and hard seeds.

Basic Diet: Weed seeds and cones, buds and leaves, flowers, berries and all sorts of insects. Despite the fact that agricultural workers complain that birds destroy the seeds of sown plants, about the chaffinch it is safe to say that it brings significant benefits to fields and forest plantations.

Reproduction and life span of the finch

From warm lands in spring, male and female finches arrive in separate flocks. Males arrive earlier and keep apart from future girlfriends. Then the males begin to sing loudly, these sounds resemble the chirping of chicks. These sounds lure females into their territory.

The mating season for finches begins in March. Before looking for a mate, males occupy nesting sites, which have their own boundaries and different areas.

Often, these are the places where they nested last year. From this territory, competitors of the same species are immediately expelled. Fights between first-year-olds and older males are especially frequent because of the outskirts of the territories of old people.

During the mating season, males chaffinch look like real bullies. They fuss a lot, fight among themselves and sing, often interrupting the song. At this moment, he pulls himself up and the feathers on his head are pressed.

A nearby female flies up to the male, sits down next to him, bends her legs, raises her wings and tail a little, throws her head up and begins to squeak softly “zi-zi-zi”. Such acquaintance can take place both on the ground and in the branches of trees.

A month later, the finches begin building their home. This business is assigned to the female, the care of the male is help. It has been estimated that when building a nest, the female descends to the ground at least 1,300 times in search of suitable materials. finch nest can be found on almost any tree and any height. Most often - about 4 m and in the forks of branches.

In a week, a unique architectural structure is obtained - a bowl with a diameter of up to one meter. It consists of thin twigs, moss, branches, grass and roots. All this is fastened with a web.

Its walls are thick and durable and can reach 25mm. The outer walls are: moss, lichen and birch bark. Inside the nest is lined with various feathers, down and wool are also used. The result is a house that is perfectly camouflaged and hardly noticeable.

Pictured is a finch chick

Clutch contains 3-6 eggs, greenish with red dots. While the female is incubating the chicks, the male brings her food and takes care of her. After about two weeks, babies are born with red skin and dark fluff on the back and head.

They are completely helpless and both parents lovingly feed them directly into their beaks, putting them in. During this period, it is absolutely impossible to disturb. If a person approaches the nest, children or eggs, adult birds may leave it.

In mid-June, the chicks fly out of the nest, but the parents help them for another half a month. The second brood of finches appears in mid-late summer. There are fewer eggs in the second clutch. finch lives not for long, although in captivity its lifespan can reach up to 12 years.

They die mainly due to carelessness, as food is often sought on the ground and can be trampled by people or caught by predators. Among the people, the finch feather is considered a symbol of family happiness and prosperity.

Not many people imagine what a finch looks like, although this bird has been known to us since childhood. In its structure, it resembles a sparrow, but its temperament, lifestyle and habits are not at all like a fellow. If you want to see this unpretentious creature, take a walk through dense dense forests, go to city alleys and squares, maybe you are lucky. How to make out a bird among other inhabitants of the green fauna, we will describe in detail in this article.

If not for the color, the common chaffinch can easily be confused with a sparrow. But unlike a feathered comrade, the plumage of a bird every year acquires brightness and contrast. The gray-blue crown smoothly flows into the neck of the same color. The back is a rich burgundy shade and the breast is a mixture of ocher and red brick. The beginning of the tail is indicated by a greenish-brown color, the continuation is indicated by gray feathers with a yellow border. The lower body as a whole has white plumage. The wings of the bird, like the forehead, are black, but have two prominent white stripes.

The body length of the finch reaches 20 cm, and it weighs only 25-30 g. The plumage of females and males have pronounced differences. Males, especially during breeding, become brighter, the neck becomes blue or dark blue. The breast, cheeks and throat of the bird are painted in burgundy tones. The feathers of the female do not stand out so much, so it will not be difficult to distinguish them from the opposite sex.

How does the finch live and where does it live

Finches live in European forests, North Africa, and also in Siberia, the Far East and other regions of Russia. For their home, birds choose coniferous or deciduous trees. Their nests can be found in cool forests, mostly where the trees are densely packed next to each other. Birds do not like a humid climate, the area near the swamp, river branches. In an urban environment, they can often be seen in green areas, squares, gardens, and even cemeteries.

Finches are considered to be migratory birds, but part of the flock may stay at home for the winter. Adult individuals, deciding to go south, huddle in groups of fifty or one hundred birds and fly to neighboring regions: to the south of Russia, the shores of the Black or Mediterranean Sea. During the flight, the finch can accelerate to 50 kilometers in one hour, so the flight takes quite a bit of time.

An interesting fact: finches that stay at home for the winter huddle in small flocks and settle in fields and meadows. Finches and sparrows begin to nail to them, which they gladly accept.

Unusual habits of a bird

For wintering, finches fly away with the first onset of frost, and return with the first spring warmth. From the word "chill" and the name of these birds appeared. In the old days there were two beliefs. First: if you met a bird in March, then a thaw will come. And second: I heard the singer in the fall, wait for the temperature to drop and frosts.

Finches do not live long, about 12 years. While singing, they throw their heads back so much that they forget about the danger that surrounds them, and as a result they die. The only thing that saves the bird is that it sings its songs sitting on a high branch of a tree.

finch songs

The common finch is a beautiful bird that starts its trills in the spring and sings until the summer. By the beginning of August, the voice of the finch is heard less and less. His song begins with a thin whistle and continues with a sonorous rolling trill. One or two knees sound, persistently repeating over and over again, and end with a characteristic sharp note.

Those who like to watch finches have long learned to distinguish between knees. The birds sing for about five seconds, then fall silent for a moment and repeat all over again.

With its songs, an ordinary, or, as it is also called, slender, chaffinch is able to transmit certain signals to its fellows. Sounds can indicate fear, anxiety, aggression, attract a female, and also give a command to take off. Previously, decorative finches with an excellent voice could often be found in apartments, but today the bird is rarely bred at home.

What does the finch eat

The bird has a hard beak, dense facial muscles and a unique vault of the upper palate. Thanks to this structure, the chaffinch calmly cracks through various shells and shells of insects.

The finch's diet is dominated by:

• seeds;
• leaves, buds and bark of trees;
• berries;
• flowers;
• various caterpillars, spiders, ants and bugs.

Plowmen and landowners swear at petty pranksters, but in fact they are more accurately called helpers. Birds are very fond of weed seeds, and thus save crops from harmful plants. Finches also destroy weevils, caterpillars and other pests on agricultural land.

How does a singer behave in captivity

As mentioned above, in the past, finches were often kept in home apartments. Now this is a rarity, because the price of a singer is quite high. In addition, he may not show his talent for a long time - once in a cage, the bird at first gets used to and adapts to the situation. Ornithologists have proven that a feathered bird lives much less in an aviary than in nature.

There are several nuances in the captive keeping of finches. If the pet sings, then the trills in the presence of people will sound as long as they are standing still. It is worth a person to move, and the bird will immediately get scared, starting to beat against the walls of the enclosure. At such moments, he can simply kill himself. In order to prevent tragic situations, the cage must be covered with dense matter.

It happens that a finch wakes up at night, jumps around the cage, but since it does not see well in the dark, it can miss and hit. Therefore, in the dark, you need to turn on a small lamp. Such actions will help the bird navigate and adapt to new conditions.

The nutrition of a songbird in captivity is also quite peculiar. She prefers only fresh bugs and plants. Compiling a diet gives a lot of trouble to the owners. In addition, the finch often suffers from overeating and eye disease. Therefore, people who want to start it at home are becoming smaller every year.

Puberty and reproduction

Males and females after wintering begin to appear in their homeland from mid-March to mid-April. Once acclimatized, they start nesting. Most often, the crowns of trees or the bases of branches are chosen as a place for a bird's house. They create a nest as inconspicuous as possible for predators and people. building materials serve as twigs, grass, moss, dry leaves, lichens. The bottom is covered with wool and feathers gathered around. To prevent the structure from falling apart, finches fasten it with cobweb threads.

The male finch during maturation and nesting becomes frisky and fussy. He jumps from branch to branch, gets into fights and sings loudly. At such moments, the male looks disheveled: he pulls up his feathers and retracts his neck. The female finch, which was attracted by the attention of the boyfriend, sits down next to him, raises his tail, throws back his head and begins to quietly sing “zi-zi-zi”. So she makes it clear that the chosen partner is not indifferent to her.

finch chicks

The female finch lays four to seven eggs at a time. In size, they do not exceed 2 centimeters, have a blue-green tint with pink splashes. For 11-13 days, the expectant mother incubates the offspring, while the future father feeds her. True, he doesn’t do this often, mostly he sings and gets into a fight with neighbors who have flown into the nesting area. In one season, the female can lay eggs twice.

Newborn chicks are fluffy and soft. The body is covered with gray fluff, only the forehead and chest remain bald. But on the head there are feathers sticking out in different directions, resembling a funny hat. After two weeks, the babies fledge and become like their mother. They are usually fed by both parents. They bring insects, larvae, mosquitoes, but caterpillars make up most of the diet. A month later, small finches switch to plant foods, become independent and leave their parental nests.

If you liked this article, like and write your observations in the comments. We'd love to read your thoughts on finches.

The finch is a songbird of the passerine order, the finch family. The size of the bird is similar to the size of a sparrow.

The distribution range of the species is Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. Finches are one of the most numerous birds living in our country. They settle in forests, but are also found in city parks, in gardens in the immediate vicinity of human habitation.

In order to survive the cold winter, birds migrate to the forests of the foothills of the Caucasus and the Mediterranean.

The appearance of the finch

Birds of this species are small, do not exceed 15 cm in length. Weight can be from 20 to 40 grams. Wingspan ranging from 24 to 28 cm.

In adult males, the feathers on the head and neck are gray-blue in color, with a black mark in the frontal part. The upper part of the body is light brown in color with a greenish tint. The breast is red-brown, the wings are dark in color with white spots. The rump has a gray tint. The lower part of the bird's body is light brick in color. In normal times - a gray beak, in the mating season it becomes bluish.

Males are more brightly colored than females, showing sexual dimorphism. In females, the back is pale brown, the lower body and breast are grayish-brown. During the whole time the beak has a gray color. Chicks of finches are colored the same as females, but more dull. All chicks have a light spot on the back of the head.

Finch Behavior and Nutrition

The finch feeds on both plant and animal food. It eats seeds of weeds and harmful insects, protecting gardens and orchards from pests, which benefits people. For the most part, the bird feeds on the ground. The finch picks up seeds, pinches sprouts, eats beetles and caterpillars.

Listen to the voice of the finch

For the excellent vocal abilities of the chaffinch, people are kept in captivity, planting them in cages. However, this bird does not become completely tame and does not begin to sing immediately, but after a rather long time of getting used to. But the life expectancy of a bird at home increases many times over.

The population in Europe is 100 million pairs of birds. There are many finches in Asia, although their exact number is not known.

Reproduction and lifespan

Finches arrive at their nesting sites at the very beginning of April. Males try to attract females. When a pair is created, the female begins to look for a nest site. In most cases, the nest is located in the branches of a tree at a height of 2 to 5 meters above the ground. The male brings material for the nest, and the female is engaged in construction. The place for masonry is a bowl woven from thin twigs, twigs and insulated with grass, moss, hairs and cobwebs. Outside, the female covers the nest with fluff of plants, pieces of bark, birch bark and lichen, which makes it completely invisible from the outside.

A finch's nest usually contains 4-6 bluish-green or reddish-green eggs. Embryos develop within 12-14 days. The chicks that were born are dressed in gray fluff, both parents feed them. In the beginning, the chicks feed on insects and then move on to seeds. At the 3rd week of life, they become winged. After that, the female can lay eggs again. The last brood begins to fly in August.

Finch - migrant. finches arrive early, in the middle of April, and settle in light forests and groves, in ravines overgrown with trees and shrubs, in dense gardens. But shore bushes, which so attract nightingales, are avoided by finches. About your arrival finches notify with loud singing. Here they sit on a still leafless branch of a tree and calmly sing. Only the swollen neck gives out the tension experienced by the singers. Having finished his short song, he moves from branch to branch and, after a pause, sings again.

Description of the finch bird

can be seen under the trees, on the ground, where they collect grass seeds and look for hiding insects, and at a watering place, near a puddle on a forest path. Finches are not very shy, they can be viewed at close range. The male in spring plumage is beautiful: his forehead is black, the crown and nape are grayish-blue, the back is dark brown, the wings are black with white transverse stripes, the breast and upper abdomen are brownish-red. The females have a modest plumage, narrow white stripes on the wings.
Many finches nest in the coastal and adjacent ravines. All spring you can hear their singing in the morning, and in the daytime, and in the evening. It is noticed that in the morning their spring singing begins at exactly five in the morning. In the many-voiced bird choir, one can distinguish the song of a finch, sonorous, lively, perky, with a characteristic final stroke. Only in rainy weather finches, like others songbirds, are silent. Spring is a time of enthusiastic singing. By the middle of summer, songs are heard less frequently and soon cease altogether. It turns out that these terms are very variable and depend on the characteristics of spring. In late and cold spring, their singing continues until mid-July.. And vice versa, when spring is early, warm, finches stop singing in mid-June. Yes, the migratory bird, the chaffinch, has a very mobile calendar.

Almost every inhabitant of Russia is familiar with a bird the size of a sparrow - a finch. Unlike its urban counterpart, the chaffinch can be easily spotted by its bright coloration. Males are especially different here: they have a bright red chest and a greenish-brown back, a blue head. Females look less remarkable, they are duller in color. In nature, their 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 their small size, they easily fly long distances. Most often, birds settle in the forest, but you can meet them in the city. With global urbanization, some began to settle next to people and benefit from this neighborhood. Therefore, conspicuous birds can be seen in an ordinary park and garden.

Brief description of the appearance of the finch

It is worth looking closely at the appearance of the birds. If you have seen a photo of a finch bird, then you will think that he is little different from a sparrow. This is partly true. Males:

1. small size;
2. with a sharp gray beak;
3. on the head is a cap of bluish plumage with a grayish tint;
4. There is a small rusty spot on the chest. Brick-colored back. Fun fact: the color of the beak changes with the seasons. In winter it is brown, and in warm weather it is blue.

The female chaffinch looks paler than the males. Calm colors are 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 the breast is not much different. By

Since the chaffinch belongs to the family of finches, insects form the basis of nutrition. This is especially noticeable during the mating season, that is, from May to July. In this segment finches only eat insects, since an abundance of protein food is required for successful reproduction. By the way, small birds bring serious benefits. agriculture. They eat dangerous pests - butterflies and diptera bugs. In other words, those who actively harm human plantings.

In rare cases, the bird switches to plant products. Seeds, fruits, berries. It is food that is 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 start flying 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 winter in place and have adapted to them. Many flocks simply fly to neighboring regions. All of them 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 on a par with the nightingale. Birds in captivity have been observed to live longer. A distinctive feature of the chaffinch is a long habituation to a new place and the absence of singing during this period. They are 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 a decorative chaffinch. But even they sang only in the presence of a person with his complete immobility. As soon as a person moved, the bird began to beat in a frenzy against the bars of the cage, injuring itself. Therefore, they were kept separately, closing the cage with a blanket. At night, waking up, the bird also began to beat against the cage. Due to the 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, often during the season the birds have time to hatch two broods. Males have been repeatedly seen in polygamy, that is, they simultaneously fertilize several females. There are up to eight eggs in a clutch. After about three weeks, the chicks leave the nests.

Bird nests are also remarkable. They are small. Males cover them with lichen and moss to hide their family from birds of prey. Due to the color of the feathers, the female fits perfectly into the objects around her and this makes her invisible.

Distinctive features of chicks:

1. Fluff instead of feathers;
2. A kind of cap on the head;
3. They try to make the first flight two weeks after hatching;
4. Both parents feed on insects. Most often bugs or caterpillars;

As you can see, there are many interesting specimens among small birds. Even with a small size, such a pet can sink into the soul. But not all birds can be kept in captivity, no matter how much you would like to keep the singer in the apartment. So it is better to choose parrots or canaries, as they are accustomed to home content.