Fringilla

 ( Bird Genera ) 

The genus Fringilla is a small group of eight species of from the Old World. It is the only genus in the subfamily Fringillinae.

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Taxonomy The genus Fringilla was described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The genus name Fringilla is Latin for "finch".

James A. Jobling (2025). 9781408125014, Christopher Helm. . ISBN 9781408125014

Linnaeus included 30 species in the genus ( Fringilla zena was listed twice) and of these the Eurasian chaffinch ( Fringilla coelebs) is considered as the type species.

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Species By the early 20th century, the genus was considered to include just three species, with the other species included by Linnaeus transferred to other genera. In 2016, it was proposed that the extremely rare Gran Canaria blue chaffinch subspecies F. teydea polatzeki be treated as a separate species, thus accepting a fourth species, F. polatzeki.

A major genetic, morphological, and behavioural study in 2021 then divided the former common chaffinch ( Fringilla coelebs sensu lato) into five species, so the genus is now accepted as containing eight species:

Europe, across Asia to western Siberia; migrating south in winter to north Africa and northern India

Northwestern Africa; nonmigratory

Azores; nonmigratory

Madeira; nonmigratory

Canary Islands; nonmigratory

Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands; nonmigratory

Tenerife in the Canary Islands; nonmigratory

Northeastern Europe and northern Asia, migrating west and south in winter to western Europe, north Africa, northern India, northern Pakistan, China, and Japan

The Eurasian chaffinch is found primarily in forest habitats, in Europe and western Asia; the other species formerly treated as subspecies of it occur in North Africa and Macaronesia; the blue chaffinches are island Endemism; and the brambling breeds in the northern taiga and southern tundra of Eurasia.

The eight species are all broadly similar size, in length, with brambling the smallest, and Tenerife blue chaffinch the largest; they are all similar in shape.

They have a bouncing flight with alternating bouts of flapping and gliding on closed wings.

Peter Clement (1993). 9780691034249, Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691034249

They are not as specialised as other finches, eating both insects and seeds. While breeding, they feed their young on insects rather than seeds, unlike other finches.

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External links

• Internet Bird Collection: Finches, Crossbills, and Allies

Categories: Bird Genera, Animal Taxa Named By Carl Linnaeus

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