Finch

The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. These birds have stout conical bills, perfect for eating seeds and nuts, and often display beautiful, colourful feathers. They live in many different 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 played an important role in the coal mining industry in the UK, the US, and Canada. They were used to detect dangerous gases like carbon monoxide 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. Over time, scientists have 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 appear to have originated around 20 to 10 million years ago.

Description

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

Distribution and habitat

Finches are found almost everywhere across the world, including the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa, as well as some island groups like the Hawaiian islands. However, they are not found 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, but some also eat insects, berries, and even nectar. Their young often eat small insects. Finches fly by flapping their wings and then gliding. Many finches sing beautifully, and some, like the canary, are popular pets kept in cages. They build basket-shaped nests usually in trees, sometimes in bushes or between rocks.

List of genera

The family Fringillidae includes 235 species divided into 50 genera and three subfamilies. The subfamily Carduelinae includes many types of finch-like birds, including the extinct Bonin grosbeak.

Subfamily Fringillinae includes the Fringilla genus, which has chaffinches and the brambling.

Subfamily Carduelinae has many interesting groups. It includes the Mycerobas genus with Palearctic grosbeaks, and the Hawaiian honeycreeper group which has many 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.