Eurasian bullfinch
Species of bird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Eurasian bullfinch or common bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) is a small passerine bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. In Anglophone Europe it is known simply as the bullfinch (English regional, Shropshire: plum bird), as it is the original bird to bear the name bullfinch.
| Eurasian bullfinch | |
|---|---|
| |
| Male in Lancashire, UK | |
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| Female in Lancashire, UK | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Fringillidae |
| Subfamily: | Carduelinae |
| Genus: | Pyrrhula |
| Species: | P. pyrrhula |
| Binomial name | |
| Pyrrhula pyrrhula | |
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| Range of P. pyrrhula Breeding Resident Non-breeding | |
| Synonyms | |
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Loxia pyrrhula Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Taxonomy and systematics
The Eurasian bullfinch was formally described in 1758 by Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia pyrrhula.[2][3] It is now placed in the genus Pyrrhula that was introduced in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson.[4][5] The Latin word pyrrhula comes from the Greek πυρρός (a flame-coloured bird, from πυρρός 'flame-coloured', from πυρ 'fire': Pyrrha), a 'worm eating bird' that is mentioned by Aristotle.[6] The Latin name pyrrhula for the Eurasian bullfinch had been used in 1555 by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner in his Historiae animalium.[7]
Subspecies
Ten subspecies are recognised:[5]
- P. p. pileata MacGillivray, W, 1837 – British Isles
- P. p. pyrrhula (Linnaeus, 1758) – north, south central and east Europe across to central Siberia
- P. p. europaea Vieillot, 1816 – Western Europe
- P. p. iberiae Voous, 1951 – southwest France, northern Iberian Peninsula
- P. p. rossikowi Derjugin & Bianchi, 1900 – northeast Turkey and the Caucasus
- P. p. cineracea Cabanis, 1872 (Baikal bullfinch) – west Siberia and northeast Kazakhstan to east Siberia and northeast China
- P. p. caspica Witherby, 1908 – Azerbaijan and north Iran
- P. p. cassinii Baird, SF, 1869 – east Siberia
- P. p. griseiventris Lafresnaye, 1841 (Grey-bellied bullfinch) – Kuril Islands and north Japan
- P. p. rosacea Seebohm, 1882 – Sakhalin (island north of Japan)
The Azores bullfinch (P. murina), previously regarded as a subspecies of the Eurasian bullfinch, is now recognised as a separate species.[8][5]
male P. p. europaea, Netherlands
male P. p. griseiventris on Mount Haku, Japan, showing more grey in its plumage
_male_Drenthe.jpg)
Description
The Eurasian bullfinch is a bulky bull-headed bird. The upper parts are grey; the flight feathers and short thick bill are black; as are the cap and face in adults (they are greyish-brown in juveniles), and the white rump and wing bars are striking in flight. The adult male has a distinctive rich red chest and underparts, but females and young birds have grey-buff feathers instead. It moults between July and October, but males do not have the duller autumn plumage that is typical of some other finches.[9] The song of this unobtrusive bird contains fluted whistles, and is often described as "mournful". This bullfinch's usual call is a quiet, low, melancholy whistled peeu or pew. The song is audible only at close range. It is a weak, scratchy warbling, alternating with soft whistles. Tamed bullfinches can be taught to repeat specific melodies.[10]
Distribution and habitat
Behaviour and ecology
This species does not form large flocks outside the breeding season, and is usually seen as a pair or family group.
Breeding
It builds its nest in a bush, (preferably more than four metres tall and wide), mature stands of scrub, or tree, laying four to seven pale blue eggs which are mottled with red-brown. It is peculiar among the Passeriformes for having spermatozoa with a rounded head and a blunt acrosome.[11] This species produces two or three broods per season, from early May to mid-July. Nesting success increases progressively from April–May to June–July and August.[12]
Food and feeding
The food is mainly seeds and buds of fruit trees, which can make it a pest in orchards: in England, for centuries every parish paid a bounty for every bullfinch killed. Populations in the UK have declined since the 1970s due to loss of orchards and woodlands.[13] Ash and hawthorn are favoured in autumn and early winter.[14] If wild bird cover is planted for it, kale, quinoa and millet are preferred, next to tall hedges or woodland. Adults will feed chicks with invertebrates.[13]
