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The male bullfinch often keeps watch at the bird feeder in order to let the female eat undisturbed; „true gentleman`s“ turn only comes afterwards - they pick sunflower seeds. The birds are trusting towards humans and we can see them in lilac bushes and in maples, ashes or rowans and picking the seeds of weeds. Bullfinches don’t eat lard.

 

The crown of an adult bird is black with a slight metal shine and the black wings have a broad white band, the rump area is white. Only the male bird`s cheeks, chest and throat are bullfinch-red. The female birds are slightly smaller; the cheeks and chest are pinkish brown, the back plumage is patterned in grey with a pink tinge that is a little darker for the male bird. Pay attention – the young birds resemble the females and the feathers on the head are not black but brownish. All of them have brown eyes and legs. They usually live in smaller groups.

 

Bullfinches are about the same size and weight as greenfinches - over fifteen centimetres in  length, weight about thirty–forty grams, depending on the individual. Their numbers are about four hundred thousand individuals in the winter.

 

Bullfinch observations: LINK