Wednesday 3 April 2013

Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)

OTHER NAMES: Cock o' the north, Mountain Finch
Latin Etymology: Fringilla ("finch") montifringilla ("mountain finch")
Adult male Winter plumage Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) at Summer Leys, Northants - April 2022

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 22-30g  /  Length: 14cm  /  Wingspan: 24-26cm
UK GREEN LIST / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Bramblings can be one of the more frustrating finches to find, a winter migrant finch that largely associated with flocks of Chaffinches.  They are largely found normally in North Eastern Europe, and like other birds from those places can irrupt to send large numbers into Western Europe in particularly bad Winters.  However, although they associate with Chaffinch flocks, which are fairly common, actually pinning one down can be frustrating, as searching through large flocks of Chaffinches on the offchance of finding one can be a bit frustrating.  After encounterign them a few times, I would say the best way to find them would be to listen to Winter Chaffinch flocks for their call, which is a deeper, huskier and I would say more confused sounding noise.  After you are aware of their presence, it's a matter of looking through the flock to find them.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Genus: Fringilla
Subspecies: None - monotypic

 - Sighting Locations -
UNITED KINGDOM - A Winter migrant in variable numnbers, (anywhere between 45,000 and 1,800,000 birds)
 - Migrant birds seen at Rutland Water (2 Winter plumage females in 2013) and Geddington (individuals seen in 2014, 2015 and 2016), .

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red ListRSPBWikipedia, Xeno-canto

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