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Common Rosefinch

Common Rosefinch

Carpodacus erythrinus

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The Common Rosefinch is the most widespread rosefinch of Europe and Asia. Adult males are rosy red on the head, breast and rump, while females and young are olive-brown and streaked. It breeds across northern and central Eurasia in dense shrubbery, often near water, and migrates to winter in South and South-East Asia. Its clear, whistled song is often remembered as “pleased to meet you”.

Did you know?

  • Its song is often remembered by the phrase “pleased to meet you”.
  • A rare form occurs in which males are yellow instead of red, linked to diet rather than genetics.

Voice

Song
Call

About the species

Identification

A Chaffinch-sized finch with a stout, conical bill. The adult male is easy to recognise by its bright red head, breast and rump; its song is a clear, far-carrying whistle delivered from a conspicuous perch. Females and first-summer males are greyish-olive above and paler below; juveniles are warmer brown and show two pale wing bars. The call is a hoarse “tsyii”.

Family

Fringillidae

Size

Small (sparrow)

Colours

red, brown, white

About the habitat

Dense willow, alder and birch thickets, especially along rivers and lakes, forest edges, clearings, young plantations, parks and gardens with plenty of shrubs.

Diet

Seeds and buds of shrubs, trees and herbs, and berries; in the breeding season also insects such as aphids and caterpillars, which are fed to the nestlings.

Behaviour

Males sing from exposed perches above dense shrubs. It forages in shrubs and on the ground. The female builds a loose cup nest low in a bush, and both parents feed the young; the male often feeds the female during courtship. Males usually acquire their full red plumage only in their second year. Adults moult in the wintering areas.

Sources

Photo: Михаил Малышев, CC BY 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carpodacus erythrinus 284921386.jpg

Sound: Jochem Verweij, XC909220, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/909220

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC918595, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/918595

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_rosefinch

See also