Eurasian bullfinch
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The Eurasian bullfinch, common bullfinch or bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) is a small passerine bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. In Anglophone Europe it is known simply as the bullfinch (English regional, Shropshire: plum bird), as it is the original bird to bear the name bullfinch.
Taxonomy and systematics
The Eurasian bullfinch was formally described in 1758 by Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia pyrrhula.<ref name=checklist>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is now placed in the genus Pyrrhula that was introduced in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=ioc>Template:Cite web</ref> The Latin word Template:Lang comes from the Greek Template:Lang (a flame-coloured bird, from Template:Lang Template:Gloss, from Template:Lang Template:Gloss: Pyrrha), a 'worm eating bird' that is mentioned by Aristotle.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Latin name Template:Lang for the Eurasian bullfinch had been used in 1555 by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner in his Historiae animalium.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Subspecies
Ten subspecies are recognised:<ref name=ioc/>
- P. p. pileata MacGillivray, W, 1837 – British Isles
- P. p. pyrrhula (Linnaeus, 1758) – north, south central and east Europe across to central Siberia
- P. p. europaea Vieillot, 1816 – Western Europe
- P. p. iberiae Voous, 1951 – southwest France, northern Iberian Peninsula
- P. p. rossikowi Derjugin & Bianchi, 1900 – northeast Turkey and the Caucasus
- P. p. cineracea Cabanis, 1872 (Baikal bullfinch) – west Siberia and northeast Kazakhstan to east Siberia and northeast China
- P. p. caspica Witherby, 1908 – Azerbaijan and north Iran
- P. p. cassinii Baird, SF, 1869 – east Siberia
- P. p. griseiventris Lafresnaye, 1841 (Grey-bellied bullfinch) – Kuril Islands and north Japan
- P. p. rosacea Seebohm, 1882 – Sakhalin (island north of Japan)
The Azores bullfinch (P. murina), previously regarded as a subspecies of the Eurasian bullfinch, is now recognised as a separate species.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=ioc/>
Description
The Eurasian bullfinch is a bulky bull-headed bird. The upper parts are grey; the flight feathers and short thick bill are black; as are the cap and face in adults (they are greyish-brown in juveniles), and the white rump and wing bars are striking in flight. The adult male has a distinctive rich red chest and underparts, but females and young birds have grey-buff feathers instead. It moults between July and October, but males do not have the duller autumn plumage that is typical of some other finches.<ref>RSPB Handbook of British Birds (2014). Template:ISBN.</ref> The song of this unobtrusive bird contains fluted whistles, and is often described as "mournful". This bullfinch's usual call is a quiet, low, melancholy whistled Template:Not a typo or pew. The song is audible only at close range. It is a weak, scratchy warbling, alternating with soft whistles. Tamed bullfinches can be taught to repeat specific melodies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Distribution and habitat
This bird breeds across Europe and temperate Asia. It is mainly resident, but many northern birds migrate further south in the winter. Mixed woodland with some conifers is favoured for breeding, including parkland and gardens.
Behaviour and ecology
This species does not form large flocks outside the breeding season, and is usually seen as a pair or family group.
Breeding
It builds its nest in a bush, (preferably more than four metres tall and wide), mature stands of scrub, or tree, laying four to seven pale blue eggs which are mottled with red-brown. It is peculiar among the Passeriformes for having spermatozoa with a rounded head and a blunt acrosome.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This species produces two or three broods per season, from early May to mid-July. Nesting success increases progressively from April–May to June–July and August.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Food and feeding
The food is mainly seeds and buds of fruit trees, which can make it a pest in orchards: in England, for centuries every parish paid a bounty for every bullfinch killed. Populations in the UK have declined since the 1970s due to loss of orchards and woodlands.<ref name="WT">Template:Cite web</ref> Ash and hawthorn are favoured in autumn and early winter.<ref>Dyda J, Symes N and Lamacraft D (2009) Woodland management for birds: a guide to managing woodland for priority birds in Wales. The RSPB, Sandy and Forestry Commission Wales, Aberystwyth, Template:ISBN</ref> If wild bird cover is planted for it, kale, quinoa and millet are preferred, next to tall hedges or woodland. Adults will feed chicks with invertebrates.<ref name="WT" />
References
External links
- Audio recording from Xeno-canto
- Ageing and sexing by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
- Feathers of Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) Template:Webarchive
- Eurasian Bullfinches Pyrrhula pyrrhula and the ninebark fruits - video
- Bullfinches Pyrrhula pyrrhula - Less and less fruit means more and more work - video