European greenfinch

European greenfinch
Temporal range: Gelasian–present[1]
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Male C. c. chloris in Jena, Germany.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Subfamily: Carduelinae
Genus: Chloris
Species:
C. chloris
Binomial name
Chloris chloris
Range of the European greenfinch (Chloris chloris)
  Breeding
  Resident
  Non-breeding
  Extant & Introduced (resident)
  Possible extinct & Introduced
Synonyms
  • Loxia chloris Linnaeus, 1758
  • Carduelis chloris (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Ligurinus chloris (Linnaeus)[3]
  • Coccothraustes chloris Flem.[4]

The European greenfinch or simply the greenfinch (Chloris chloris) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.

This bird is widespread throughout Europe, North Africa and Southwest Asia. It is mainly resident, but some of the populations from the far north migrate further south. The greenfinch has also been introduced into Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay, and Argentina.

Taxonomy

The greenfinch was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia chloris.[5][6] The specific epithet is from khloris, the Ancient Greek name for this bird, from khloros, "green".[7]

A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2012 found that the greenfinches are not closely related to other species of the genus Carduelis.[8] They have therefore been placed in the resurrected genus Chloris, which was originally been introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1800. The European greenfinch is the type species of this genus.[9][10][11]

Subspecies

There are 10 recognised subspecies.[10]

Image Name and describing authority Range
C. c. harrisoni Clancey, 1940 Great Britain (except northern Scotland) and Ireland
C. c. chloris (Linnaeus, 1758) Northern Scotland, northern and central France and Norway to western Siberia
C. c. muehlei Parrot, 1905 Serbia and Montenegro to Moldova, Bulgaria, and Greece
C. c. aurantiiventris (Cabanis, 1851) Southern Spain through southern Europe to western Greece
C. c. madaraszi Tschusi, 1911 Corsica and Sardinia
C. c. vanmarli Voous, 1952 Northwestern Spain, Portugal and northwestern Morocco
C. c. voousi (Roselaar, 1993) Central Morocco and northern Algeria
C. c. chlorotica (Bonaparte, 1850) South-central Turkey to northeastern Egypt
C. c. bilkevitchi Zarudny, 1911 Southern Ukraine, the Caucasus and northeastern Turkey to northern Iran and southwestern Turkmenistan
C. c. turkestanica Zarudny, 1907 Southern Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan and central Tajikistan

Description

Comparison between a male (top) and a female (bottom) greenfinch

The European greenfinch is 15 cm (5.9 in) long with a wingspan of 24.5 to 27.5 cm (9.6 to 10.8 in). It is similar in size and shape to a house sparrow, but is mainly green, with yellow in the wings and tail. The female and young birds are duller and have brown tones on the back. The bill is thick and conical.[12] The song contains a lot of trilling and twittering interspersed with wheezes, and the male performs a "butterfly" display flight. Male greenfinches exhibit higher degrees of fluctuating asymmetry. Their bones are more susceptible to disruption during development than those of females.

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

Cuculus canorus bangsi in a clutch of Carduelis chloris - MHNT
Chloris chloris aurantiiventris - MHNT
Nest with eggs in Nottinghamshire, England

The breeding season lasts from the second half of March until June; fledging takes place in early July. Woodland edges, farmland hedges and gardens with relatively thick vegetation are favoured for breeding.[13] The nest is placed in trees or bushes.[14][15] The nest is built by the female who is accompanied by the male. The clutch consists of 4–6 eggs which are typically laid at daily intervals, beginning one or two days after the nest is completed. The eggs are greyish-white, bluish-white, or beige, with reddish or brownish spots or blotches concentrated at the broader end. On average the eggs measure 20.0 mm × 14.6 mm (0.79 in × 0.57 in) and weigh 2.17 g (0.077 oz). They are incubated by the female for 13–14 days.[16] During this period, the male feeds her at the nest. The chicks are covered in thick, long, greyish-white down when they hatch. Both adults feeds them on during the first days, and later on a frequently regurgitated yellowish paste made of seeds. They leave the nest after about 13 days, but cannot fly yet. They usually fledge 16–18 days after hatching. This species produces two or three broods per year.[14][15]

In Australasia, the European greenfinch's breeding season is from October to March.[17]

Food and feeding

The European greenfinch feeds on a great variety of seeds, berries, fruit, buds, flowers and some arthropods. It forages in trees and bushes, and also on the ground.[18]

Predators and parasites

The protozoal parasite Trichomonas gallinae is known to infect pigeons and raptors. However, beginning in Great Britain in 2005, carcasses of dead European greenfinches and common chaffinches were found to be infected with the parasite.[19] The disease subsequently spread, with infected carcasses being found in Norway, Sweden and Finland in 2008 and in Germany the following year. It is believed that the spread of the disease was mediated by common chaffinches, given that large numbers of these birds breed in northern Europe and winter in Great Britain.[20] In Great Britain, the number of infected carcasses recovered each year declined after peaking in 2006. The number of European greenfinches declined from around 4.3 million to around 2.8 million, but there was no significant change in the overall number of common chaffinches.[21] A similar pattern occurred in Finland, where the number of European greenfinches declined after the arrival of the disease in 2008, but there was only a small change in the number of common chaffinches.[22]

In literature

The English poet William Wordsworth wrote a poem about this species entitled The Green Linnet in 1803.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ "Mindat.org". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2025-09-17.
  2. ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Chloris chloris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018 e.T22720330A132000123. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22720330A132000123.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  3. ^ For Ligurinus chloris see for instance Bonhote, J. Lewis (1907). Birds of Britain. illustrated by H.E. Dresser. London: Adam and Charles Black. pp. 114/5. OCLC 1451688.. John Gould uses the scientific name Ligurinus chloris for the greenfinch in his The Birds of Great Britain (vol. 3, 1873, plate 38).
  4. ^ In The Birds of Europe (vol. 3, 1837, plate 57) John Gould describes the "green grossbeak" (Coccothraustes chloris).
  5. ^ Paynter 1968, pp. 235–236.
  6. ^ Linnaeus 1758, p. 174.
  7. ^ Jobling 2010, p. 102.
  8. ^ Zuccon, Dario; Prŷs-Jones, Robert; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Ericson, Per G.P. (2012). "The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 62 (2): 581–596. Bibcode:2012MolPE..62..581Z. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.002. PMID 22023825.
  9. ^ Cuvier, Georges (1800). Leçons d'anatomie comparée. Vol. 1. Paris: Baudouin. Table 2. The year on the title page is An VIII.
  10. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Finches, euphonias". IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  11. ^ Sangster, G.; et al. (October 2011). "Taxonomic recommendations for British birds: seventh report". Ibis. 153 (4): 883–892. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.2011.01155.x.
  12. ^ Snow, D.W.; Perrins, C.M., eds. (1998). "Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)". The Birds of the Western Palearctic: Concise Edition. Volume 2: Passerines. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 1557–1560. ISBN 978-0-19-850188-6.
  13. ^ Bensouilah, T.; Brahmia, H.; Zeraoula, A.; Bouslama, Z.; Houhamdi, M. (2015). "Variation in nest placement by the European Greenfinch Chloris chloris in relation to the age of orange trees". Zoology and Ecology. 26 (1): 9–14. doi:10.1080/21658005.2015.1126156.
  14. ^ a b Bensouilah, Taqiyeddine; Brahmia, Hafid; Zeraoula, Ali; Bouslama, Zihad; Houhamdi, Moussa (2014). "Breeding biology of the European Greenfinch Chloris chloris in the loquat orchards of Algeria (North Africa)". Zoology and Ecology. 24 (3): 199–207. Bibcode:2014ZooEc..24..199B. doi:10.1080/21658005.2014.934514.
  15. ^ a b Kosiński, Ziemowit (2001). "The breeding ecology of the greenfinch Carduelis chloris in urban conditions (study in Krotoszyn, W Poland)". Acta Ornithologica. 36 (2): 111–121. doi:10.3161/068.036.0203.
  16. ^ Cramp 1994, pp. 542–543.
  17. ^ Robertson, Hugh A.; Heather, B.D.; Onley, Derek J. (2005). The Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-14-028835-3.
  18. ^ Cramp 1994, pp. 553–555.
  19. ^ Robinson, R A; et al. (2010). "Emerging infectious disease leads to rapid population declines of common British birds". PLOS ONE. 5 (8) e12215. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...512215R. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012215. PMC 2923595. PMID 20805869.
  20. ^ Lawson, B.; et al. (2011). "Evidence of spread of emerging infectious disease, finch trichomonosis, by migrating birds". Ecohealth. 8 (2): 143–153. doi:10.1007/s10393-011-0696-8. PMID 21935745. S2CID 13343152.
  21. ^ Lawson, B; et al. (2012). "The emergence and spread of finch trichomonosis in the British Isles". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 367 (1604): 2852–2863. doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0130. JSTOR 41740010. PMC 3427565. PMID 22966140.
  22. ^ Lehikoinen, A.; Lehikoinen, E.; Valkama, J.; Väisänen, R.A.; Isomursu, M. (April 2013). "Impacts of trichomonosis epidemics on Greenfinch Chloris chloris and Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs populations in Finland". Ibis. 155 (2): 357–366. doi:10.1111/ibi.12028.
  23. ^ Wordsworth, William "The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth". Copyright 1847, 1858 Edward Moxon, Dover Street, London. pp. 118-119.
  24. ^ Poetry Foundation The Green Linnet

Sources

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carduelis_chloris