The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usually resident and do not migrate. They have a worldwide native distribution except for Australia and the polar regions. The family Fringillidae contains more than two hundred species divided into fifty genera. It includes the canaries, siskins, redpolls, serins, grosbeaks and euphonias, as well as the morphologically divergent Hawaiian honeycreepers.
The American goldfinch is a small North American bird in the finch family. It is migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canada–United States border to Mexico during the winter.
The European goldfinch or simply the goldfinch is a small passerine bird in the finch family that is native to Europe, North Africa and western and central Asia. It has been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay.
The European greenfinch or simply the greenfinch is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.
The common redpoll or mealy redpoll is a species of bird in the finch family. It breeds somewhat further south than the Arctic redpoll, also in habitats with thickets or shrubs.
The Eurasian siskin is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is also called the European siskin, common siskin or just siskin. Other (archaic) names include black-headed goldfinch, barley bird and aberdevine. It is very common throughout Europe and Eurosiberia. It is found in forested areas, both coniferous and mixed woodland where it feeds on seeds of all kinds, especially of alder and conifers.
The pine siskin is a North American bird in the finch family. It is a migratory bird with an extremely sporadic winter range.
Rhodopechys is a genus of finches containing the following two species:
The lesser goldfinch is a very small songbird of the Americas. Together with its relatives the American goldfinch and Lawrence's goldfinch, it forms the New World goldfinch clade in the genus Spinus.
The grey-capped greenfinch or Oriental greenfinch is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae that breeds in broadleaf and conifer woodlands of the East Palearctic.
Lawrence's goldfinch is a small songbird of erratic distribution that breeds in California and Baja California and winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
The British finches are made up of several species of finch which were formerly very popular as cage birds in Great Britain. They are not currently commonplace, but are still kept by a few dedicated fanciers.
The cardueline finches are a subfamily, Carduelinae, one of three subfamilies of the finch family Fringillidae, the others being the Fringillinae and the Euphoniinae. The Hawaiian honeycreepers are now included in this subfamily. Except for the Hawaiian honeycreepers which underwent adaptive radiation in Hawaii and have evolved a broad range of diets, cardueline finches are specialised seed eaters, and unlike most passerine birds, they feed their young mostly on seeds, which are regurgitated. Besides this, they differ from the other finches in some minor details of their skull. They are adept at opening seeds and clinging to stems, unlike other granivorous birds, such as sparrows and buntings, which feed mostly on fallen seeds. Some members of this subfamily are further specialised to feed on a particular type of seed, such as cones in the case of crossbills. Carduelines forage in flocks throughout the year, rather than keeping territories, and males defend their females rather than a territory or nest.
The hooded siskin is a small passerine bird in the finch family (Fringillidae), native to South America. It belongs to the putative clade of neotropical siskins in the genus Spinus sensu lato.
The genus Rhynchostruthus is a small group of finches in the family Fringillinae. Commonly known as golden-winged grosbeaks, they are attractive, chunky, medium-sized, robust-billed songbirds restricted to the southern Arabian and northern Somalian regions.
The black-headed greenfinch is a small passerine bird in the family Fringillidae. It is found in the Chinese province of Yunnan, northern Laos, eastern Myanmar and adjacent areas of Vietnam, Thailand and Northeast India. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
The Vietnamese greenfinch is a small passerine bird in the family Fringillidae. It is found only in Đà Lạt Plateau of southern Vietnam. Its natural habitat is open montane pine forest and scrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The yellow-breasted greenfinch is a small passerine bird in the family Fringillidae that is native to the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent.
The collared grosbeak is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. Its range encompasses the northern regions of the Indian Subcontinent, mainly the Himalayas, along with some adjoining regions. It is found in Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand. Its natural habitat is mountainous deciduous or mixed forests.
The greenfinches are small passerine birds in the genus Chloris in the subfamily Carduelinae within the Fringillidae. The species have a Eurasian distribution except for the European greenfinch, which also occurs in North Africa.
