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European Goldfinch
Carduelis carduelis
58.2028, -6.21778
Field Notes
Description:
A highly coloured finch with a bright red face and yellow wing patch. Sociable, often breeding in loose colonies, they have a delightful liquid twittering song and call. Their long fine beaks allow them to extract otherwise inaccessible seeds from thistles and teasels. Increasingly they are visiting birdtables and feeders. In winter many UK goldfinches migrate as far south as Spain.
Habitat:
Anywhere there are scattered bushes and trees, rough ground with thistles and other seeding plants. Likes orchards, parks, gardens, heathland and commons. Less common in upland areas and most numerous in southern England.
Notes:
A nice change from the usual starlings and sparrows that we get up here. I was surprised to see them (there were three) so far north.
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