European Goldfinch
Carduelis carduelis
Also known as: Eurasian Goldfinch, Goldfinch, Cadernera
Habitat
Understory
Diet
PlantSeed
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
16 g
About This Species
A small, brightly patterned finch with a red face and black-and-yellow wings, most easily located by its tinkling, twittering flight call before it is seen. It favours weedy field edges, gardens and scrubland, where flocks called charms cling to seed heads of thistles and teasels to extract seeds with their fine, pointed bills. Late summer and autumn, when seed heads are ripe, are the best times to watch feeding flocks at close range.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- These are small, common songbirds that tolerate reasonable proximity in gardens, so a few metres' distance while remaining still is usually enough to avoid flushing a feeding flock.
- Nesting birds and their eggs are protected from intentional disturbance under wildlife law in the UK and across the EU, so avoid approaching or handling active nests.
- As with most small passerines, minimising disturbance mainly means keeping pets and noise away from nesting hedgerows during spring and early summer.
LCAvesPasseriformesFringillidae
Seasonal Activity
5,847,215 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
Traits
- Diet
- PlantSeed
- Foraging
- Understory
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 16 g
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.