European Greenfinch

Chloris chloris · Finches

Greenfinches in dispute

Bordeaux and the surrounding area, 8 May 2026

Two greenfinches meeting mid-air at the edge of a vineyard outside Bordeaux in May, wings spread and bills nearly touching - a scuffle over a perch or a feeding spot, over as fast as it began. Greenfinches are finches of hedgerow, farmland and garden across Europe, and among the most quarrelsome birds at any feeder.

They are also among the hardest hit in recent years: a parasite spread at feeders, trichomonosis, cut the British population by more than half from 2006, and the advice to clean feeders regularly dates from that.

European Greenfinch

Bordeaux and the surrounding area, 8 May 2026

A greenfinch on a bramble cane at the edge of a vineyard outside Bordeaux, a bird of hedgerows, gardens and farmland across Europe, and one of the commonest finches in the French countryside.

Olive-green with a flash of yellow through the flight feathers. The heavy, conical bill built for cracking seeds is the finch family's defining tool, and this one carries it in a slightly stouter, blunter form than most of its smaller relatives; it can open a rosehip that a goldfinch cannot.