Few bullfinches still at birdfeeders
Photo: Arne Ader
Translation: Liis
Bullfinch
Bullfinch Leevike Pyrrhula pyrrhula
... and for good reason. Spruce cones have opened and they spill seeds, and there are enough seeds this year for all who care for them.
In Estonia bullfinches breed in mixed as well as conifer forests but preferably there should be many spruces – this is the preferred nesting tree of bullfinches.There they carry on with their doings so quietly and unobtrusively in spite of their boldly patterned plumage that many believe that bullfinches are only passing migrants here. The number of nesters may reach up to a hundred thousand pairs. The pairs spend the winter together, only those who have been left alone and the young birds must find a partner in the spring. The migration of bullfinches is in March and April, the birds that nest in the north but have wintered here leave then.
In Germany and Denmark nesting bullfinches are “park birds” – the surroundings influence the behaviour pattern of individuals to an astonishing extent.
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