Finch

The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. These birds have strong conical bills for eating seeds and nuts. They often have beautiful, colourful feathers. Finches live in many places around the world but are not found in Australia or the polar regions. The Fringillidae family includes over two hundred species, such as canaries, siskins, redpolls, serins, grosbeaks, and euphonias, along with the unique Hawaiian honeycreepers.

Many other birds are also called "finches," even if they belong to different families. This includes the estrildid finches found in the Old World tropics and Australia, some bunting birds, New World sparrows, and the famous Darwin's finches from the Galapagos islands.

Historically, finches and canaries were important in the coal mining industry in the UK, the US, and Canada. They were used to detect dangerous gases in mines from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. This practice stopped in the UK in 1986, but it shows how these small birds were once very valuable in keeping miners safe.

Systematics and taxonomy

The family name Fringillidae for finches was introduced in 1819 by an English zoologist. Later, scientists studied how different finch groups are related. Around 1990, new studies using DNA helped reorganize finch families. Some birds, like the Neotropical Euphonia and the Hawaiian honeycreepers, were found to be closely related to true finches and are now grouped with them.

Today, the finch family Fringillidae is divided into three subfamilies. The Fringillinae includes chaffinches, the Carduelinae has many species like rosefinches and greenfinches, and the Euphoniinae includes Euphonia and Chlorophonia. Fossils of true finches are rare, but they seem to have originated around 20 to 10 million years ago.

Description

True finches are small to medium-sized birds with strong, stubby beaks. They are great at eating seeds and nuts. The smallest finch is the Andean siskin, which can be as little as 9.5 cm long. The largest is the collared grosbeak, reaching up to 24 cm. Their feathers are often brown or green, and many have bright yellow or red colors, especially the males.

Distribution and habitat

Finches live nearly everywhere around the world, including the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa. They can also be found on islands like Hawaii. But they do not live in Australasia, Antarctica, the Southern Pacific, or the islands of the Indian Ocean. Some European finch species have been introduced to places like Australia and New Zealand.

These birds usually live in wooded areas, but some types of finches can also be found in mountains or even in deserts.

Behaviour

Finches mainly eat seeds. Some also eat insects, berries, and nectar. Their young often eat small insects. Finches fly by flapping their wings and then gliding. Many finches sing very well. Some, like the canary, are popular pets kept in cages. They build nests that look like baskets. These nests are usually in trees, but sometimes in bushes or between rocks.

List of genera

The family Fringillidae has 235 species in 50 genera and three subfamilies. The subfamily Carduelinae has many finch-like birds, including the extinct Bonin grosbeak.

Subfamily Fringillinae includes the Fringilla genus, with chaffinches and the brambling.

Subfamily Carduelinae has many interesting groups. It includes the Mycerobas genus with Palearctic grosbeaks, and the Hawaiian honeycreeper group with unique birds like the palila, the iiwi, and the apapane.

Subfamily Euphoniinae includes the Euphonia genus with 27 species, and the Chlorophonia genus with 5 species.