Michele Mendi

Medium-sized finch. Short-distance migrant, partial migrant and resident, depending on the geographical population. Migratory movements restricted to within Europe and N Africa. Breeding distribution covers Europe (excluding Iceland and Arctic regions) N Africa and some areas in C Asia. Inhabits deciduous, mixed and coniferous woodlands, but also anthropogenic habitats such as forest edges, hedgerows, orchards, parks and gardens in lower-lying areas. Mixed diet of small invertebrates, seeds and buds. European breeding population 185,000,000-269,000,000. Increasing trend.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendStable
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		308000000-462000000,371000000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Common Chaffinch

Birds from the British Isles are encountered within Britain and in neighbouring countries on the European mainland. Populations from the Low Countries connect to countries in almost every direction. Connections to Fennoscandia, the Baltics and the British Isles suggest wintering of those populations in the Low Countries and connections to France and Spain suggest migration of local breeding populations. C European populations connect to France, Spain, Italy and, to some extent, N Africa. Finnish birds differ from other Fennoscandian populations as these connect to the Baltics followed by the Low Countries, France and Spain, but typically further south. Birds from N Italy connect to low-lying areas in Italy, Spain and N Africa. Birds from Russia may migrate as far as Spain.

Recoveries by Condition for Common Chaffinch

The majority of recoveries (88%) refers to alive birds, of which most were recovered by certified ringers (84%). Only 11% of recoveries refer to dead birds and only 1% to birds being shot or otherwise taken intentionally. Shot birds are especially common in Mediterranean areas in Italy, Spain and France and mainly occurred in the decades before 1990.

Annual Movements for Common Chaffinch

Migratory movements are mainly due SSW – NNW. Chaffinches winter in a large area covering W, SW and S Europe. Fennoscandian (and potentially also large parts of N Russian) breeding grounds are almost completely departed during winter, with some birds wintering in southern Fennoscandia. Birds from the British Isles remain resident, migrate within Britain or towards the European mainland. Birds from Spain are mainly encountered within the country.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Common Chaffinch

Local movements in June-July. In September-October, encounters at stopovers in the Low Countries, the Baltics and C Europe and in wintering grounds in the British Isles, the Low Countries, France, Italy and Spain. Wintering areas connect to breeding areas from March onwards.

Henk van der Jeugd

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries