Species Profile Of The Bullfinch.

[Meroman 105]

These species profile articles were compiled by a good friend of mine namely John Carter, the info was gleaned from the internet and he put them together to show an accurate & condensed profile of the various native bird species.

 

 

 

Bullfinch

Pyrrhula pyrrhula

Cock Bullfinch.

General Overview:

The male is unmistakable with his bright pinkish-red breast and cheeks, grey back, black cap and tail, and bright white rump. The flash of the rump in flight and the
sad call note are usually the first signs of bullfinches being present. The female has a brown back and pinkish-fawn underparts. The juveniles are like the adult female, but do
not have black caps. In the winter, our resident population can be joined by "northern" Bullfinches from northern Europe. These are slightly larger and heavier and much less
shy than our own Bullfinch, and the male has a more intense pink breast and very pale grey upperparts. They feed voraciously of the buds of various trees in spring and were
once a 'pest' of fruit crops. Recent declines place it on the Red List.

Juvenile Bullfinch.

Habitat:

Within Britain, the species breeds mainly in deciduous woodland, but it will also use large gardens, orchards, hedgerows, thickets and churchyards. Bullfinches are shy
birds, rarely seen in the open and seemingly visiting only those gardens that can be accessed via suitably thick cover.

Diet:

Bullfinches usually feed on insects, berries, seeds, and buds - its liking for the latter has made enemies of some gardeners and fruit growers. These attacks can become
a serious problem. A single bullfinch can remove 30 or more buds in a minute. Bullfinch numbers increased enormously in the 1950s making this for a time the biggest problem that
the fruit-growing industry had to face. Almost every grower had little option but to trap bullfinches (using cage-traps complete with a live decoy) during the winter and spring.
Many growers in well-wooded districts caught more than a thousand birds annually. In late autumn the diet changes because the bird becomes more of a wanderer, feeding
largely on the seeds of herbaceous plants. But these decrease in importance with the onset of winter and are replaced by tree seeds, especially ash.

Hen Bullfinch feeding.

Breeding:

A carefully hidden nest.

Bullfinches usually nest in shrubs or bushes, such as blackthorn and hawthorn, in woodland, orchards or agricultural farmland. The nest, which is a flimsy, loose
structure of twigs and moss lined with fine roots and hair, is built by the female. The nest is made between 4 and 7 feet off the ground in cover. The female Bullfinch
lays and incubates eggs that are smooth, glossy and light blue with purplish markings at one end. The eggs are about 20 mm by 15 mm. Both parents feed the young after
they have hatched. The adult Bullfinch develops a food pouch in the mouth during the breeding the season, this is so that they can store more food in their mouths
when they are out foraging and in turn means that they visit the nest less often......which is actually a natural defence mechanism to avoid predation, namely from the
Magpie, Crow etc.

Both cock and hen share the feeding responsibilities.

Distribution:

Map showing distribution throughout the U.K

Voice:

The call note is a low, piping ‘deu-deu’ (sometimes ‘deu’), while the song is highly variable, though usually quiet in nature and audible only over short distances, hen
Bullfinches are unusual amongst finches in that their song matches that of the cock birds .