The true finches: more than 200 species of small songbirds with stout, conical bills for cracking seeds and nuts, often brightly coloured. They include canaries, siskins, redpolls and grosbeaks, and most do not migrate.
Quick answers
What is it?Bird
Carnivore?No, herbivore
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?Commonly
Several finches are common cage birds, above all the domestic canary.
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inWorldwide
ColoursBrown, Red, Yellow
SizeTiny
Legs2
Covered inFeathers
Lives inflocks
Lives for4–10 years
Can fly
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Native almost worldwide, except Australia and the polar regions.
- What it eats
- Mainly seeds and nuts.
Did you know
Darwin's finches of the Galápagos helped inspire his theory of evolution, though they are not true finches.
Canaries, which are finches, were used in coal mines to detect carbon monoxide until 1986 in the UK.
Darwin’s finches of the Galápagos are tanagers, not true finches.
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