Greenfinch
(Chloris chloris)
Greenfinches are a mixture of olive and yellow-green, with bright yellow wing flashes. But it’s this bird’s large beak which gives its ‘finch’ status away! You’ll often see greenfinches perched on your bird table using this beak to chew away the seed husk and reach the nutritious heart.
People have described their song as a ‘wheeze’ as their short raspy call is less melodic than other garden birds, but greenfinches are still filled with a certain charm.
Greenfinch numbers have not entirely recovered from a disease called trichomonosis which broke out in 2005. The disease hit 35 per cent of the greenfinch population as well as a high number of goldfinches and chaffinches. Because of avian diseases, it’s extremely important that we clean our bird feeders and baths to ensure bird illnesses are stopped in their tracks.