Eurasian chaffinch
Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758
The Eurasian chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), also called the chaffinch or common chaffinch, is a small bird in the family Fringillidae, within the songbirds and other perching birds. Adults weigh 23.81 g and have a wingspan of 26 cm.
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Quick facts about the Eurasian chaffinch
Its diet category is invertivore, its trophic level is omnivore, it lives in forest habitat and it is partially migratory. It lays 4.5 eggs per clutch with 1 clutch per year, incubation lasts 12.5 days, and it is listed as Least Concern, not an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 22 g – 23.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 26 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 29 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- seedssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 12.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the Eurasian chaffinch?
Photos of the Eurasian chaffinch
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the Eurasian chaffinch live?
Not recorded
What is the Eurasian chaffinch?
The Eurasian chaffinch, common chaffinch, or simply the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) is a common and widespread small passerine bird – in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is more subdued in colouring, but both sexes have two contrasting white wing bars and white sides to the tail. The male bird has a strong voice and sings from exposed perches to attract a mate.
The chaffinch breeds in much of Europe, across the Palearctic to Siberia. The female builds a nest with a deep cup in the fork of a tree. The clutch is typically four or five eggs, which hatch in about 13 days. The chicks fledge in around 14 days, but are fed by both adults for several weeks after leaving the nest. Outside the breeding season, chaffinches form flocks in open countryside and forage for seeds on the ground. During the breeding season, they forage on trees for invertebrates, especially caterpillars, and feed these to their young. They are partial migrants; birds breeding in warmer regions are sedentary, while those breeding in the colder northern areas of their range winter further south.
The eggs and nestlings of the chaffinch are taken by a variety of mammalian and avian predators. Its large numbers and huge range mean that chaffinches are classed as of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
From the Wikipedia article “Eurasian chaffinch” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eurasian_chaffinch&oldid=1375721699), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the Eurasian chaffinch sound like?
Is the Eurasian chaffinch endangered?
The Eurasian chaffinch is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the Eurasian chaffinch classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyFringillidae
- genusFringilla
- SpeciesFringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Spiza leucoptera
Other names and names in other languages (66)
- ChaffinchEnglish
- Common chaffinchEnglish
- GryskoppieAfrikaans
- شرشور ظالم-صلنجArabic
- pimpínAsturian
- gurrión pintuAsturian
- pinzónAsturian
- Берасцянка (або зябок)Belarusian
- Обикновена чинкаBulgarian
- Pint boutinBreton
- pinsà comúCatalan
- pěnkava obecnáCzech
- ji-bincWelsh
- Ji-BincodWelsh
- BogfinkeDanish
- BuchfinkGerman
- ΣπίνοςGreek
- Κοινός ΣπίνοςGreek
- (Κοινός) ΣπίνοςGreek
- eŭrazia fringoEsperanto
- Pinzón vulgarSpanish
- metsvintEstonian
- سهره جنگلیPersian
- peippoFinnish
- pinson des arbresFrench
- Rí ruaIrish
- breacan-beitheScottish Gaelic
- bigean-baintighearnaScottish Gaelic
- bigein-bhaintighearnaScottish Gaelic
- breacain-bheitheScottish Gaelic
- gdeacan beitheScottish Gaelic
- Ushag y choauManx
- פרוש מצויHebrew
- erdei pintyHungarian
- BókfinkaIcelandic
- FringuelloItalian
- ズアオアトリJapanese
- TynkCornish
- paprastasis kikilisLithuanian
- žubīteLatvian
- обична ѕвингалкаMacedonian
- vinkDutch
- bokfinkNorwegian
- zięba (zwyczajna)Polish
- tentilhão-comumPortuguese
- tentilhão-eurasiáticoPortuguese
- CintezăRomanian
- ЗябликRussian
- BeibbošNorthern Sami
- pinka obyčajnáSlovak
- ščinkavecSlovenian
- borciAlbanian
- avdosaAlbanian
- borakuAlbanian
- borësiAlbanian
- finkuAlbanian
- zborakuAlbanian
- zogu i borësAlbanian
- ZebaSerbian
- bofinkSwedish
- นกจาบปีกอ่อนหัวเทาอกชมพูThai
- ispinozTurkish
- bayağı ispinozTurkish
- зяблик звичайнийUkrainian
- 苍头燕雀Chinese
- 蒼頭燕雀Chinese
Relatives of the Eurasian chaffinch
Other species in the same genus Fringilla.
Brambling
Fringilla montifringilla
Tenerife blue chaffinch
Fringilla teydea
CompareEurasian chaffinch vs BramblingEurasian chaffinch vs Tenerife blue chaffinchEurasian chaffinch vs Fringilla brasilianaEurasian chaffinch vs Fringilla butyracea
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the Eurasian chaffinch?
The Eurasian chaffinch is a bird in the family Fringillidae and the order Passeriformes, grouped with the songbirds and other perching birds.
How big is the Eurasian chaffinch?
The Eurasian chaffinch is a small bird weighing 23.81 g, with a wingspan of 26 cm.
What does the Eurasian chaffinch eat?
Its diet category is invertivore, and its trophic level is listed as omnivore.
Is the Eurasian chaffinch endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does the Eurasian chaffinch live?
Its lifespan is given as 29 years.
How many eggs does the Eurasian chaffinch lay?
It lays 4.5 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 12.5 days.
When does the Eurasian chaffinch reach maturity?
It reaches sexual maturity at 364.6 days, with reported values from 364.2 to 365 days (1.0 years).
Who named the Eurasian chaffinch?
The scientific name Fringilla coelebs was given by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Eurasian chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-chaffinch
“Eurasian chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-chaffinch.
@misc{eurasian_chaffinch_2026,
title = {Eurasian chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-chaffinch},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}