The beautiful chaffinch is our most frequent breeding bird. Its song, known as “the finches hit”, may be heard in clear weather days from the end of February on, a melody which sounds clear and hard and ends with a small flourish. There are countless of imitative mnemonic rhymes for this catchy song endemic to all regions, like „Es gibt gibt gibt bald würziges Bier“ (eng: “soon we get get get spicy beer”) or „Ich ich ich bin Unteroffizier“ (eng: “I I I am a sergeant”). It owes its name due to its clear „Finch, Finch“ alert calls. The chaffinch is also the only bird, which specifically uses a rain call. With the monotonous „trüb“ call, it is said chaffinches would be able to predict weather: „Trüb, Trüb, es trieft, es trieft, es schütt, es schütt: so ein Shit“ (eng: “Cloudy, cloudy, it drips, it drips, it pours, it pours: such a shit”).
Size |
14 – 16 cm |
Wingspan |
25 – 28 cm |
Weight |
18 – 27 g |
Clutch Size |
4 – 6 |
Clutches (per year) |
1 |
Breeding period |
12 – 13 days |
Breeding pairs in Germany |
10.000.000 |
Maximum age |
13 years, 9 months |
Migratory behaviour |
migrant / resident bird / winter guest |