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European Goldfinch

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                               iGoldfinch

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
                        Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Passeriformes
   Family:  Fringillidae
   Genus:   Carduelis
   Species: C. carduelis

                                Binomial name

   Carduelis carduelis
   (Linnaeus, 1758)
   Carduelis carduelis carduelis1 summer 2 all yearCarduelis carduelis
   caniceps3 summer 4 all year
   Carduelis carduelis carduelis
   1 summer 2 all year
   Carduelis carduelis caniceps
   3 summer 4 all year

   The Goldfinch or European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) is a small
   passerine bird in the finch family.

   It breeds across Europe, north Africa, and western and central Asia, in
   open, partially wooded lowlands. It is resident in the milder west of
   its range, but migrates from colder regions. It will also make local
   movements, even in the west, to escape bad weather. It is a rare
   vagrant to eastern North America; one was photographed on a bird feeder
   in Michigan in 2005.
   Feeding on thistles - note thistledown in bill
   Enlarge
   Feeding on thistles - note thistledown in bill

   It is 12-13 cm long with a wingspan of 21-25 cm and a weight of 14 to
   19 grams. The sexes are alike, with a red face, black and white head,
   warm brown upperparts, white underparts with buff flanks and breast
   patches, and black and yellow wings. The ivory-coloured bill is long
   and pointed, and the tail is forked. Juveniles have a plain head and a
   greyer back but are unmistakable due to the yellow wing stripe. Birds
   in central Asia (caniceps group) have a plain grey head behind the red
   face, lacking the black and white head pattern of European and western
   Asian birds.

   The species is divided into two major groups, each comprising several
   races. The two groups intergrade at their boundary, so the caniceps
   group is not recognised as a distinct species despite its readily
   distinguishable plumage.

   Carduelis carduelis carduelis group.

     * Carduelis carduelis balcanica. Southeastern Europe.
     * Carduelis carduelis brevirostris. Crimea, north Caucasus.
     * Carduelis carduelis brittanica. British Isles.
     * Carduelis carduelis carduelis. Most of European mainland,
       Scandinavia.
     * Carduelis carduelis loudoni. South Caucasus, Iran.
     * Carduelis carduelis major. Western Siberia.
     * Carduelis carduelis niediecki. Southwest Asia, northeast Africa.
     * Carduelis carduelis parva. Atlantic Islands, Iberia, northwest
       Africa.
     * Carduelis carduelis tschusii. Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily.

   Carduelis carduelis caniceps group.

     * Carduelis carduelis caniceps. Southern central Asia.
     * Carduelis carduelis paropanisi. Afghanistan to western Himalaya and
       Tien Shan.
     * Carduelis carduelis subulata. South-central Siberia.

Behaviour

   The food is small seeds such as thistles (the Latin name is from
   carduus, thistle) and teasels, but insects are also taken when feeding
   young. It also regularly visits bird feeders in winter. They nest in
   the outer twigs of tall leafy trees, laying four to six eggs which
   hatch in 11-14 days.

   In the winter they group together to form flocks of up to about 40
   birds, occasionally more.

   The song is a pleasant silvery twittering. The call is a melodic
   tickeLIT, and the song is a pleasant tinkling medley of trills and
   twiters, but always including the trisyllabic call phrase or a
   teLLIT-teLLIT-teLLIT.

   In earlier times, the Goldfinch was kept as a cagebird for its song.
   Escapes from captivity and deliberate releases have colonised
   southeastern Australia and New Zealand.

Symbolism

   Because of the thorns and thistles it eats and nests in, in Christian
   symbolism the goldfinch is associated with the Passion and Christ's
   Crown of Thorns. The goldfinch, appearing in pictures of the Madonna
   and the Christ Child, represents the foreknowledge Jesus and Mary had
   of the Crucifixion.In Barocci’s ‘Holy Family’ a goldfinch is held in
   the hand of John the Baptist who holds it high out of reach of an
   interested cat. In Cima da Conegliano’s ‘Madonna and Child’, a
   goldfinch flutters in the hand of the Christ Child. It is also an
   emblem of endurance, fruitfulness, and persistence. Because it
   symbolizes the Passion, the goldfinch is considered a "saviour" bird
   and may be pictured with the common fly (which represents the sin and
   disease which Christ saved us from). During medieval times, this bird
   was used by some as a charm to ward off the plague.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Goldfinch"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
