The European Greenfinch
The European Greenfinch
The European Greenfinch is a ​common Carduelan finch that is widespread over Europe and into Russia. It is roughly 5-5 1/2 inches in length depending on its subspecies. Also color varies a little from subspecies from intense yellow green to buffish green. In the UK ​and IRL its been named the Green Linnet in the past.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS USED ARE MY OWN BRED BIRDS
DESCRIPTION : Adult males forehead,crown and nape a deep green or olive color.Sides ​of crown,cheeks and throat to chest a yellow green as is the rump and lower back area. Wings and tail are black edged in yellow and primary wing feathers are edged in a broad yellow showing a a wing bar while secondaries pale grayish. Lower belly and underside buffish white.Beak is a large canary like and strong.
Adult females is similar to males but more buff brown with the colors much less intense with wing bars smaller more of an edging.
Youngsters are similar to the female more buffish gray brown with lite yellow wing and tail edges and generally streaked throughout body.
DIET: They are known to be rough feeders and will eat most seeds given to them but I supply them with a good quality canary mix with added plain canary grass seed as this keeps them fit and not fat in cages.They also get some small black sunflower and safflower seed as a treat 1 -2 times a week.Eggfood is taken easily and so are all types of dark leafy greens and broccolli. During the conditioning period and breeding a mixture of soaked/sprouted seeds are relished and mostly fed to youngsters.
BREEDING: I find them not to difficult to breed as I keep them in pairs in small flight cages , this way both male and female can push one another into condition. In the wild they breed in loose colonies so having a few birds in close proximety really gets them in condition.The females build a nice woven nest in canary nest pans or canary outside nest boxes and feel more secure with some fake greenery or pines to camouflage it a little.They lay 4-6 whitish light blue eggs with spots and scrawls and hatch 14 days of incubation. Both male and females feed the young and are vigorous feeders and will show how large the youngsters ge and fledge quickly. Young Greenfinches can safely be seperated at 30 days of age and learn to eat quickly.
FINAL THOUGHTS:I really love these finches as they remind me back when I was younger taking trips to Greece my uncle had 1 or 2 of them along his prized Goldfinches as singers and when walking to the beach in the summer days you can see males on the tops of pines or electric wires singing away for hours with their pleasant canary like song and strong buzzes and whirs. I also find them great to mule and hybridize with as they bond to other carduelans quite easy. Nowadays through many years of cage breeding they come in a wide range of color mutations to say a few in Agate , Isabel , Browns, Lutinos , Satinettes , Pastels , Pearls, Pieds ,and some new ones like Dominant Yellow and Yellow beaks and more new variations popping up. This bird when treated well and fed a good quality diet has one of the best feather qualities of any Carduelan and look velvety at times!
MULES AND HYBRIDS
