Summary

All about the ‘true’ finches, the species belonging to the family Fringillidae. 

These small songbirds are found in many places around the world. Most of them specialize in eating seeds. 

Not every bird we commonly call ‘finch’ is a member of this family. And the family includes many birds that don’t have the word ‘finch’ in their common name. Confusing? Yes. We’ll try to clear some of this up for you.

Learn about the key features of finches as well as their global distribution, evolution, feeding, and more.

There’s lots of fun stuff to know about these charming birds!

Research Citations

• The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae) (Zucon et al. 2012. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution)
• Ancestrality and evolution of trait syndromes in finches (Fringillidae) (Ponge et al. 2017. Ecology and Evolution)
• An experimental demonstration that house finches add cigarette butts in response to ectoparasites (Suarez-Rodriguez and Macias Garcia. 2017. Journal of Avian Biology)
  

Photos of some birds mentioned

Attributions

• Eurasian Bullfinch sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC603170)
• House Finch sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC99546)
• American Goldfinch sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC127600)
• European Goldfinch sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC572995)
• Citril Finch sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC176329)
• Common Chaffinch sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC482887)
• Long-tailed Rosefinch sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC505257)
• Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonia sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC87041)
• Tenerife Blue Chaffinch sounds (Xeno Canto recording XC349387)

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