Facts About Finch

Finches are passerine birds that belong to the largest bird family, Fringillidae. They are characterized by their stout, conical bills that are used to crack open the seeds. Finches are classified into three groups. The first group comprises of the birds with small, triangular bills, (such as the canary, sparrow, bunting, towhee, and junco) and the ones that are specifically named finch (e.g., chaffinch, bullfinch, and goldfinch). The second group includes those with thick, rounded bills (as the grosbeak and cardinal). The third group, on the other hand, consists of the crossbills i.e. the rose-colored northern birds whose mandibles (as their name implies) cross over at the tips. Finches are found in almost all the parts of the world, except Australia. Finches usually live in forests or other places where there is abundance of trees. They like to live in a lot of greenery, but studies have revealed that some species can be found on mountains or even deserts. Read on further to know some more interesting facts and amazing information on finches.

Facts About Finch

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Aves

Subclass: Neornithes

Infraclass: Neognathae

Superorder: Neoaves

Order: Passeriformes

Suborder: Passeri

Infraorder: Passerida

Superfamily: Passeroidea

Family: Fringillidae

Group Name: Charm

Length: 3-6 inches

Weight: 10-35 g

Lifespan: 5-9 years

Diet: Seeds

Habitat: Across the world, except Australia

Age of Sexual Maturity: 9-12 months

Gestation Period: 12-14 days

Number of Offspring: 3-7 eggs

Interesting & Amazing Information On Finches

Finches are songbirds and thus, are meant to be watched only for entertainment.
Some of the commonly available finches are African Silverbill Finch, Blue-faced Parrot Finch, Crimson-crowned Weaver, Diamond Sparrow, Orange Weaver, Owl Finch, Paradise Whydah, Pintail Whydah, Red-faced Star Finch, Society Finch, Spice Finch, Strawberry Finch and Zebra Finch.
These birds are vegetarian and mostly feed on seeds, fruit, buds, and weed seeds.
Finches are found in temperate climates, desserts, mountains, tropical and even sub-arctic biomes.
The house finches, also known as the linnet or papaya birds, are one of the most common garden birds spread throughout the world.
The finches found in Hawaii are of two different varieties of colors - red and yellow.
Goldfinches are found in Europe and North America, while the common American Goldfinch is found everywhere in the North American continent, except in the far south.
The British goldfinch is cinnamon brown in color, with a red face and black and yellow wings.
The Dickcissel, known as a destroyer of grasshoppers, is found in Central and South America.
If kept as pets, finches should not be taken out of cages, as they are more bird-oriented than human-oriented.
Though the average life of these birds is 5-9 years, some finches are known to live up to 27 years as well.
Finch is one of the smallest birds on Earth which belongs to the largest bird family!
The first or the oldest finch was found in the Galapagos Island millions of years back.
House finches stay close to their breeding grounds over winter. They are partial or non-migratory birds.
During their breeding season finches build basket-shaped nests in trees.
The only finches which are threatened are the ones in the wild.
Finches should not be housed with other birds, especially, parrots. Finches need to live with members of their species; moreover, bigger birds can cause injury to these little birds.
Cats are also a threat to finches.
Zebra finches choose to eat in the morning and in the evening, because this is time when they wander searching for food in the wild.
The male zebra finches dislike body contacts with other species of finches.
Also, all male zebra finches sing in a different way.
Young zebra finches are born with black beaks which change color (orange or red) after one month.
The largest finch is the Collared Grosbeak, found in South-East Asia and the smallest true finch is Andean Siskin, which does not grow more than 9.5 cm.
Before 1940, house finches lived only in the western part of the United States. They were illegally traded to New York and later released in the Long Island. Eventually, the birds established their colonies and spread thorough the east.

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