A Charm of Goldfinches


Goldfinch/Carduelis carduelis (RSPB)


Goldfinches are colourful, flashy finches in the Fringillidae family. They live throughout most of the UK, a common garden visitor but happily at home in habitats as varied as woodland to farmland. You can even see them from UEA Library's window! During the winter, many of our breeding birds will join us in migrating to Spain to enjoy some winter sun!

During the summer, goldfinches breed in thick cover, laying about 5 eggs in their cosy nest. The eggs take around 2 weeks to hatch and a further fortnight for the chicks to fledge, leaving time for a second clutch to be raised if the conditions are good. With all these chicks around, goldfinches can often be seen in large flocks, beautifully known as a charm!

Like most finches, goldfinch beaks are specially adapted for their diet. The fine beak is perfect for extracting thin seeds from thistle and teasel plants, for example. In gardens, they can often be attracted by providing nyjer seed in a specialist feeder. Garden feeding is at least partially responsible for the recent increase in goldfinch numbers in the UK, following a sharp decline in the 70s and 80s.

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