Charming birds.

-
A goldfinch being held during a ringing session.
Goldfinches are some of the mist striking birds that can be seen in the UK. They have beautiful feather patterns including yellows and reds. Their scientific name is Carduelis carduelis and they are in the finches bird family. They have a green UK conservation status and are protected, as all UK birds are, under The Wildlife and Countryside Act if 1981. They have a bright red face and a yellow patch on their wings. They are very sociable creatures and breed in loose colonies. They feed on seeds and insects due to their thin beaks allowing them to get to inaccessible seeds from thistles. Primarily, goldfinches feed on seeds but depending on the season their diet slightly alters. In the early months of the summer they feed on things like small plants where as in later summer they feed on thistles

A goldfinch in flight. p0370m7y.jpg
The females have the biggest role when it comes to nest making as they build the entire thing which takes around a week to complete. The male is present when the nest is being build but don't help the female with her work. She builds the nest several meters above ground level amongst leaves so it is hidden. It is build from mosses and different vegetation and then attached to the tree with spider silk. It is very deeply cupped in order to prevent eggs from falling out when it is windy. The clutch is made of 4-6 eggs and the eggs are laid with daily intervals. After 11-13 days of incubation by the female, during which time she is fed by the male, the eggs hatch. The chicks are then fed by both the male and the female. The nestlings fledge 13-18 days after they hatch and parents carrying on feeding the chicks for an extra 7-9 days. 2 broods tend to be the average raised by parents but sometimes three broods are produced.

Goldfinches fly in flocks to get from on place to another. The flocks aren't always friendly and fights break out quite regularly for many reasons such as if a bird gets too close to another's feeding area. They fly long distances in flocks to locate suitable food sources and they are safer en masse so all fly together. When they are all in a group a lovely 'charm' sound that sounds like lots of bells chiming together. This may be the reason that a group of goldfinches is called a charm. The word could also be related to the latin word that means magic song or spell 'Carmen'. Seeing a flock of goldfinches is a beautiful for all the sense due to their flamboyant colouring and pleasing songs.










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lead poisonings most unheard of victim - the mute swan.

-
Image
Mute swan. Mute swan. On campus there are a few mute swans that can be seen on the lake. The scientific name for the mute swan is Cygnus olor  and they are in the bird family ducks, geese and swans. As all UK birds they are protected under The Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 but this hasn't protected them completely and thus them having an amber UK conservation status. They are very large white waterbirds and are easily recognisable by their long S-shaped neck and orange bill. Protection of the species has increased recently meaning their numbers have begun to increase again. Lead poisoning on lowland rivers was one of the largest threats to swans but in recent years this has been overcome by a ban on lead fishing weights. There are around 6,400 breeding pairs in the UK and 74,000 UK wintering individual birds. Swans are large birds weighing up to 12 kg and having a wing span of over 2 meters. The main diet of a mute swan includes aquatic vegetation which they...
Read more

Monogamy, polyandry, polygyny and polygynandry; are dunnocks the most promiscuous bird?

-
Image
A dunnock having its health observed during a bird ringing session. These beautifully understated birds weigh roughly the same as a 'AA' battery (24 g) and are the same length as two and a half golf tees (14 cm). The dunnock, Prunella modularis are in the bird family accentors and have an amber UK conservation status even though they are protected under The Wildlife and Countryside Act. They are very quiet and unobtrusive birds and are usually seen along flower bed edges or near to bushes. They move in a shuffling gait and come across quite nervy until two rival males meet and then they become very animated and aggressive. Their colouring is quite simple as they are just brown and grey. A dunnock on the look out.  Dunnock-min.jpg Dunnocks have gone through many adaptions in order to use different breeding strategies. Females mate with more than one male in order to make sure her genes are passed onto the next generation and in hope that they will both help rear her c...
Read more

Growing populations mean issues for ducks.

-
Image
A female mallard. There are many species of ducks that inhabit the UK including mallards, mandarins and long-tailed ducks. The scientific name for the mallard is Anas platrhynchos and they are in the ducks, geese and swans bird family. Their UK conservation status is amber meaning they are under concern but they are protected under The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The males of the species look different to the females of the species meaning they are sexually dimorphic. Male mallards are more colourful than females and have distinctive green heads and yellow beaks. Females are all brown compared to males who have white bodies. They are usually around 60 cm in length and have a wingspan of 81-98 cm. There are between 61,000-146,000 breeding pairs in the UK. A male mallard being followed by a female. There is a close link between food and number of mallards. If there is a lot of food resources in a pond then there will be a lot of mallards but this can lead to overpopulati...
Read more