Fringilla

The genus Fringilla is a small group of finches from the Old World, which are the only species in the subfamily Fringillinae. The genus name Fringilla is Latin for "finch".[1]

Fringilla
Male common chaffinch
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Fringillidae
Subfamily:	Fringillinae Leach, 1820
Genus:	Fringilla Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Fringilla coelebs Fringilla polatzeki Fringilla teydea Fringilla montifringilla

The four species are:[2]

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	Fringilla coelebs	Common chaffinch	Europe, across Asia to Siberia and in northwestern Africa
	Fringilla polatzeki	Gran Canaria blue chaffinch	Gran Canaria, the Canary Islands
	Fringilla teydea	Tenerife blue chaffinch	Tenerife, the Canary Islands
	Fringilla montifringilla	Brambling	Europe, North Africa, northern India, northern Pakistan, China, and Japan

The common chaffinch is found primarily in forest habitats, in Europe, North Africa, and western Asia; the blue chaffinches are island endemics; and the brambling breeds in the northern taiga and southern tundra of Eurasia.[3]

The four species are about the same size, 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in length, and are similar in shape.[3] They have a bouncing flight with alternating bouts of flapping and gliding on closed wings.[4] They are not as specialised as other finches, eating both insects and seeds. While breeding, they feed their young on insects rather than seeds, unlike other finches.[3]

In 2016, it was proposed that the extremely rare Gran Canaria subspecies F. teydea polatzeki be treated as a separate species, thus creating a fourth species, F. polatzeki.[5][6]

References

1. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
2. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Finches, euphonias". World Bird List Version 5.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
3. Newton, Ian (1973). Finches. New Naturalist 55. New York: Taplinger. pp. 19–30. ISBN 0-8008-2720-1.
4. Clement, Peter; Harris, Alan; Davis, John (1993). Finches and Sparrows. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-03424-9.
5. Sangster, G.; Rodríguez‐Godoy, F.; Roselaar, C.S.; Robb, M.S.; Luksenburg, J.A. (2016). "Integrative taxonomy reveals Europe's rarest songbird species, the Gran Canaria blue chaffinch Fringilla polatzeki". Journal of Avian Biology. 47 (2): 159–166. doi:10.1111/jav.00825.
6. "The Rarest Songbird in Europe". Wildlife Articles. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2016-03-05.

External links

• Internet Bird Collection: Finches, Crossbills, and Allies