Eurasian Bullfinch

How to recognise it

• Black cap, wings and tail with a blue metallic sheen
• Male red on the sides of the head and breast, female paler, grey-brown tinged lilac
• Grey back, white wing bar and white rump, clear in the undulating flight
• Short, thick bill with a strongly curved upper mandible

Call and song

The usual call is a quiet, low, melancholy whistle, roughly "peeu" or "pew". The northern subspecies pyrrhula, found from Scandinavia to Eastern Europe, has a call that recalls a toy trumpet. The song is a weak whistling mixed with creaking and plaintive notes, and both female and male sing.

Where and when

A resident found throughout Sweden except in the high mountains. It lives in coniferous and mixed forest, often damp with rich undergrowth. It is reported most in December and January, when it visits settlements and bird feeders, and rarely in August and September. In some years many move to Denmark and Central Europe. Its share of all bird reports is highest in Norrbotten, Västernorrland and Jämtland.

Food and behaviour

It eats seeds, buds, berries such as rowan berries, young leaves and some insects. It usually moves in pairs and only rarely in groups. It is shy in the breeding season but easier to watch the rest of the year. The nest is usually placed in young spruces or hedges, and the female incubates two to three times a year between April and August.