European Goldfinch

Carduelis carduelis (Linnaeus, 1758)

European Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis, breeds across the Palearctic in woods, scrub and gardens, from the British Isles and southern Scandinavia east through European Russia and north-west Kazakhstan, and south to Iberia, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Morocco, northern Egypt, the Mediterranean, Turkey, Israel and northern Iran. It is a passerine in the finch family. The breeding male shows a red face with dark markings by the eyes, a black-and-white head, buff or chestnut-brown upperparts and flanks, black wings with a broad yellow bar, a black tail and a white rump. Females are very similar.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Fringillidae — Finches, Euphonias

Breeding range

Palearctic: temperate to subtropical w, c Palearctic in woods, scrub and gardens: British Isles, s Scandinavia e through c, s European Russia and nw Kazakhstan; in s to Iberian Pen., Madeira and Canary Is. (Macaronesia, w of n Africa), Morocco to n Egypt (n Africa), Mediterranean, Turkey, Israel, n Iran.

Nonbreeding range

short-distance and altitudinal movements