Short Description
The bullfinch has a stocky body, short neck and a short thick conical bill. Head and tail are black. Its wings are also black with a white bar.
Male bullfinches are very striking with their red underparts and steel-grey backs.
Females are markedly more inconspicuous and light grey-brown in colour.
Features
Bullfinch
Pyrrhula pyrrhula
ales with red underparts and steel-grey upper parts
Gesang
Wallschläger (CC BY-SA 3.0)
In the city
The bullfinch is not a typical urban bird. It can be found in parks, cemeteries and gardens with conifers.
It is timid and rather inconspicuous in its behaviour. This timidity is less pronounced in winter, as it is a frequent visitor of bird feeders.
Fun Facts
Bullfinches can easily be attracted by imitating their calls and are thus considered gullible. The bird’s German name “Gimpel” conveniently rhymes with simple and is thus used to describe a gullible person.
Even today, bullfinches are still kept as cage birds. But these are birds bred in captivity. The capture of wild birds is forbidden by law.
Bullfinches can be seen in Germany all year round.
- Endangerment level Germany: not endangered
Sources
Männchen, Francis C. Franklin , CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bullfinch_male.jpg
Weibchen, Francis C. Franklin, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pyrrhula_pyrrhula_female_2.jpg
Männchen mit Jungtier, spacebirdy, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pyrrhula_pyrrhula_-_Steiermark.jpg
Fiedler, W. (2015) Die Vögel Mitteleuropas sicher bestimmen - Schlüssel zur Art-, Alters- und Geschlechtsbestimmung, Wiebelsheim: Quelle & Meyer Verlag.
Makatsch, W. (1989) Wir bestimmen die Vögel Europas, Leipzig: Neumann Verlag.
Voigt, A. (2006) Exkursionsbuch zum Studium der Vogelstimmen, Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer Verlag.
Svensson, L. (2011) Der Kosmos Vogelführer - Alle Arten Europas, Nordafrikas und Vorderasiens, Stuttgart: Franckh Kosmos Verlag.
Harrison, C. (1975) Jungvögel, Eier und Nester aller Vögel Europas, Nordafrikas und des Mittleren Ostens - Ein Naturführer zur Fortpflanzungsbiologie, Hamburg und Berlin: Verlag Paul Parey.
Page „Gimpel (Art)“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 12.04.2016, 21:23 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gimpel_(Art)&oldid=153423769 (Accessed: 18.04.2016).
Artenfinder (2016) Pyrrhula pyrrhula (Gimpel, Dompfaff), URL: https://arteninfo.net/elearning/voegel/speciesportrait/3162 (Accessed: 18.04.2016).