Fringilla

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

Taxonomy

The genus Fringilla was described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The genus name Fringilla is Latin for "finch".<ref name =job>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref name=sangster2016>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=WIAR>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

A major genetic, morphological, and behavioural study in 2021 then divided the former common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs sensu lato) into five species,<ref name="Recuerda">Template:Cite journal</ref> so the genus is now accepted as containing eight species:<ref name="IOC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
File:Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs).jpg	Fringilla coelebs	Eurasian chaffinch	Europe, across Asia to western Siberia; migrating south in winter to north Africa and northern India
File:African Chaffinch (Fringilla spodiogenys) male Morocco.jpg	Fringilla spodiogenys	African chaffinch	Northwestern Africa; nonmigratory
File:Açores 452A1626 (35867036050).jpg	Fringilla moreletti	Azores chaffinch	Azores; nonmigratory
File:FringillaCoelebsMadeirensis 3749.jpg	Fringilla maderensis	Madeira chaffinch	Madeira; nonmigratory
File:Fringilla coelebs palmae - Los Tilos.jpg	Fringilla canariensis	Canary Islands chaffinch	Canary Islands; nonmigratory
File:Pinzón azul de Gran Canaria (macho), M. A. Peña.jpg	Fringilla polatzeki	Gran Canaria blue chaffinch	Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands; nonmigratory
File:Teidefink.jpg	Fringilla teydea	Tenerife blue chaffinch	Tenerife in the Canary Islands; nonmigratory
File:Fringilla montifringilla Oulu 20120507b.JPG	Fringilla montifringilla	Brambling	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 endemics; and the brambling breeds in the northern taiga and southern tundra of Eurasia.<ref name=Newton>Template:Cite book</ref>

The eight species are all broadly similar size, Template:Convert in length, with brambling the smallest, and Tenerife blue chaffinch the largest; they are all similar in shape.<ref name="Shirihai">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Newton/> They have a bouncing flight with alternating bouts of flapping and gliding on closed wings.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name=Newton/>

External links

• Internet Bird Collection: Finches, Crossbills, and Allies