European goldfinch

Last updated

European goldfinch
072 Wild European goldfinch at the Parc Jura vaudois Photo by Giles Laurent.jpg
C. c. carduelis in Switzerland
Male C. c. britannica recorded in Gloucestershire, England
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Subfamily: Carduelinae
Genus: Carduelis
Species:
C. carduelis
Binomial name
Carduelis carduelis
CarduelisCarduelisIUCN.svg
  Breeding Summer visitor
  Breeding Resident
  Non-breeding winter visitor
  Introduced
  Introduced (now extinct)
Synonyms

Fringilla carduelisLinnaeus, 1758

The European goldfinch or simply the goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) is a small passerine bird in the finch family that is native to the Palearctic zone in Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia. It has been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay and the United States.

Contents

The breeding male has a red face with black markings around the eyes, and a black-and-white head. Its back and flanks are buff or chestnut brown. Its black wings feature a broad yellow bar. Its tail is black and its rump is white. Males and females are very similar, but females have a slightly smaller red area on their face.

The goldfinch is often depicted in Italian Renaissance paintings of the Madonna and Child.

Taxonomy

The European goldfinch was one of the birds described and illustrated by Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner in his Historiae animalium of 1555. [2] The first formal description was by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae published in 1758. He introduced the binomial name, Fringilla carduelis. [3] [4] Carduelis is the Latin word for 'goldfinch'. [5] The European goldfinch is now placed in the genus Carduelis that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 by tautonomy based on Linnaeus's specific epithet. [6] [7] Modern molecular genetic studies have shown that the European goldfinch is closely related to the grey-crowned goldfinch (Carduelis caniceps), the citril finch (Carduelis citrinella) and the Corsican finch (Carduelis corsicana). [8]

The English word 'goldfinch' was first used in the second half of the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer in his unfinished The Cook's Tale : "Gaillard he was as goldfynch in the shawe (Gaily dressed he was as is a goldfinch in the woods)". [9]

Subspecies

Ten subspecies of the European goldfinch are now accepted following the split of the grey-headed caniceps group as a separate species. [10] [11]

The former caniceps group of subspecies, containing subspecies C. c. caniceps, C. c. paropanisi, C. c. subulata, and C. c. ultima, were shifted to a separate species, the grey-crowned goldfinch, by the International Ornithological Congress in 2023.

Phylogeny

The European goldfinch originated in the late Miocene-Pliocene and belongs to the clade of cardueline finches. The grey-crowned goldfinch, citril finch and Corsican finch are its sister taxa. Their closest relatives are the greenfinches, crossbills and redpolls. [12] The monophyly of the subfamily Carduelinae is suggested in previous studies. [13]

Description

The average European goldfinch is 12–13 cm (4.7–5.1 in) long, has a wingspan of 21–25 cm (8.3–9.8 in) and weighs 14 to 19 g (0.49 to 0.67 oz). There is little difference between the sexes, both having a red face, black and white head, warm brown upperparts, white underparts with buff flanks and breast patches, and black and yellow wings.

Male European goldfinches can often be distinguished on close inspection by the larger, darker red mask that extends just behind the eye. Their shoulder feathers are black, whereas those of the female are brown. The red face of the female does not extend past the eye. They have an ivory-coloured, long, pointed bill and a forked tail. Goldfinches in breeding condition have a pale bill with a grey or black mark at the tip, whereas the rest of the year they have a darker bill. Juveniles have a plain head and a greyer back, but they are unmistakable due to the yellow wing stripe. [14] [15] Adults moult after the breeding season, with some individuals beginning in July and others not completing their moult until November. After moult birds appear less colourful, until the tips of the newly grown feathers wear away. [16]

The song is a pleasant silvery twittering. The call is a melodic tickeLIT, and the song is a pleasant tinkling medley of trills and twitters, but always including the tri-syllabic call phrase or a teLLIT-teLLIT-teLLIT.

Distribution and habitat

The European goldfinch is native to Europe, North Africa, and western and central Asia. It inhabits open, partially wooded lowlands and is resident in the milder western regions of its habitat, but migrates from colder areas. Even in the west, it will make local movements to escape bad weather. The species has been introduced to many other parts of the world. [17] It was introduced to Bermuda, [18] Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands, Uruguay, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand [19] in the 19th century, and their populations quickly increased and their range expanded greatly. In Australia, they now occur from Brisbane to the Eyre Peninsula, and are also spread throughout New Zealand. [20] In the United States, they have become established in the western Great Lakes region. [21]

Behaviour and ecology

A European goldfinch nest and eggs Gold Finch eggs.jpg
A European goldfinch nest and eggs

Breeding

The female builds the nest entirely herself, generally completing it within a week. The male accompanies her, but does not contribute. [22] The neat, compact nest is usually located several metres above the ground and hidden by leaves and twigs at the end of a swaying branch. [23] It is made of moss and lichen and is lined with plant down, such as that from thistles. It is attached to the twigs of the tree with spider silk. A deep cup prevents eggs from being lost in windy weather. [24] A few days after the nest is completed, the eggs are laid in the early morning at regular intervals. [22] The clutch is typically 4–6 eggs, which are whitish with reddish-brown speckles. [23] They have a smooth surface and are slightly glossy. [22] The average size is 17.3 mm × 13.0 mm (0.68 in × 0.51 in) with a calculated weight of 1.53 g (0.054 oz). [22] The eggs are incubated for 11–13 days by the female, who is fed by the male. The chicks are fed by both parents. Initially they receive a mixture of seeds and insects, but as they grow the proportion of insect material decreases. [25] For the first 7–9 days the young are brooded by the female. The nestlings fledge 13–18 days after hatching. The young birds are fed by both parents for a further 7–9 days. The parents typically raise two broods each year and occasionally three. [22]

Feeding

Goldfinch eating teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) seeds, Scotland European Goldfinch - Flickr - gbsngrhm.jpg
Goldfinch eating teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) seeds, Scotland

The European goldfinch's preferred food is small seeds such as beige-coloured sunflower hearts and those from thistles (the Latin name is from Carduus , a genus of thistles), cornflowers, and teasels, but it also eats insects when it feeds its young. They also regularly visit bird feeders in winter. During this time, European goldfinches group together to form flocks of up to 40, and occasionally more. They are attracted to back gardens in Europe and North America by birdfeeders containing niger (commercially described as nyjer) seed. This small oily seed comes from an annual native to Africa. Special polycarbonate feeders with small oval slits through which the European goldfinches feed are sometimes used.

Relationships with humans

Madonna of the Goldfinch by Raphael, c. 1505-6 Raffaello Sanzio - Madonna del Cardellino - Google Art Project.jpg
Madonna of the Goldfinch by Raphael, c. 1505–6
The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius, 1654 Fabritius-vink.jpg
The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius, 1654

European goldfinches are commonly kept and bred in captivity around the world thanks to their distinctive appearance and pleasant song. However, if they are kept with domestic canaries, they tend to lose their native song and call in favour of their cagemates' songs. This is considered undesirable, as it detracts from the appeal of keeping them. In 19th century Great Britain, many thousands of European goldfinches were trapped each year to be sold as cage birds. One of the earliest campaigns of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was directed against this trade. [26] Wildlife conservation attempts to limit bird trapping and the destruction of the open-space habitats of European goldfinches. [27]

Steglitz, a borough of the German city of Berlin, is named after the European goldfinch. [28] The surname Goldspink is based on the Scots word for the European goldfinch. [29]

Christian symbolism

Because of the thistle seeds it eats, in Christian symbolism the European goldfinch is associated with Christ's Passion and his crown of thorns. The European goldfinch, appearing in pictures of the Madonna and Christ child, represents the foreknowledge Jesus and Mary had of the Crucifixion. Examples include the Madonna del cardellino or Madonna of the Goldfinch, painted by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael in about 1505–6, in which John the Baptist offers a European goldfinch to Christ in a warning of his future. In Barocci's Holy Family, a European goldfinch is held in the hand of John the Baptist, who holds it high out of reach of an interested cat. In Cima da Conegliano's Madonna and Child, a European goldfinch flutters in the hand of the Christ child. It is also an emblem of endurance, fruitfulness, and persistence. Because it symbolizes the Passion, the European goldfinch is considered a "saviour" bird and may be pictured with the common housefly (which represents sin and disease). [30] The European goldfinch is also associated with Saint Jerome and appears in some depictions of him. [30]

Depictions in art

Antonio Vivaldi composed a Concerto in D major for Flute "Il Gardellino" (RV 428, Op. 10 No. 3), where the singing of the European goldfinch is imitated by a flute. An anonymous Italian Neapolitan poem titled Il Cardellino [31] was put to music by Saverio Mercadante and sung by Jose Carreras.

European goldfinches, with their "wanton freak" and "yellow flutterings", are among the many natural "luxuries" that delight the speaker of John Keats' poem 'I stood tip-toe upon a little hill...' (1816). [32]

In the poem The Great Hunger by Patrick Kavanagh, the European goldfinch is one of the rare glimpses of beauty in the life of an elderly Irish farmer:

The goldfinches on the railway paling were worth looking at
A man might imagine then
Himself in Brazil and these birds the birds of paradise

Donna Tartt's novel The Goldfinch [33] won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. [34] A turning point in the plot occurs when the narrator, Theo, sees his mother's favourite painting, Carel Fabritius's The Goldfinch , in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2019). "Carduelis carduelis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019 e.T103764950A152615959. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T103764950A152615959.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Gessner, Conrad (1555). Historiæ animalium liber III qui est de auium natura. Adiecti sunt ab initio indices alphabetici decem super nominibus auium in totidem linguis diuersis: & ante illos enumeratio auium eo ordiné quo in hoc volumine continentur (in Latin). Zurich: Froschauer. pp. 235–237. Archived from the original on 2017-09-03. Retrieved 2017-04-26. Accessed 29 December 2017
  3. ↑ Paynter, Raymond A. Jnr., ed. (1968). Check-list of Birds of the World, Volume 14. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 247–250. Accessed 29 December 2017
  4. ↑ Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1 (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii. p. 180.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) Accessed 29 December 2017
  5. ↑ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p.  91. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ↑ Paynter, Raymond A. Jnr., ed. (1968). Check-list of Birds of the World, Volume 14. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 234. Accessed 29 December 2017
  7. ↑ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques. Ornithologie (in Latin and French). Paris. Volume 1 p. 36; Volume 3 p. 53. Accessed 29 December 2017
  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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "The Cook's Prologue and Tale: An Interlinear Translation (line 4367)". The President and Fellows of Harvard College. Archived from the original on 16 January 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  10. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Finches, euphonias". World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  11. ↑ Clement, P. (2020). del Hoyo, J; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)" . Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. doi:10.2173/bow.eurgol.01. S2CID   240701365 . Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  12. ↑ Nagy, Jenő (2017). "Phylogeny and evolution of the European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) and its allies – a review of the 'bird of the year'". Ornis Hungarica. 25 (2): 1–10. doi: 10.1515/orhu-2017-0011 .
  13. ↑ Nguembock, B.; Fjeldså, J.; Couloux, A.; Pasquet, E. (2009). "Molecular phylogeny of Carduelinae (Aves, Passeriformes, Fringillidae) proves polyphyletic origin of the genera Serinus and Carduelis and suggests redefined generic limits". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 51 (2): 169–181. Bibcode:2009MolPE..51..169N. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.10.022. PMID   19027082.
  14. ↑ Clement, P., Harris, A., & Davis, J. (1993). Finches & Sparrows. Christopher Helm. ISBN   0-7136-8017-2.
  15. ↑ Svensson, L. (1992). Identification Guide to European Passerines. ISBN   91-630-1118-2.
  16. ↑ RSPB Handbook of British Birds (2014). ISBN   978-1-4729-0647-2.
  17. ↑ Snow, D. W. & Perrins, C. M. (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic concise ed. Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-854099-X.
  18. ↑ "European Goldfinch". The Bermuda Audubon Society. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  19. ↑ Long, John L. (1981). Introduced Birds of the World. Agricultural Protection Board of Western Australia. pp. 21–493
  20. ↑ "European Goldfinch". Birdlife Australia. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  21. ↑ Craves, J.A. (2008). "Current status of European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) in the western Great Lakes region". North American Birds. 62: 498–501.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 Cramp & Perrins 1994, pp. 582–583.
  23. 1 2 Newton 1972, p. 37.
  24. ↑ Newton 1972, p. 175.
  25. ↑ Newton 1972, p. 178.
  26. ↑ Newton 1972, pp. 36–37.
  27. ↑ Zafrir, Rinat (August 6, 2003). "Jerusalem of goldfinches is no more". Haaretz.
  28. ↑ Du Buffon (1786). Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière: Oiseaux (in French). Vol. VII. p. 208.
  29. ↑ Collins Dictionary
  30. 1 2 Werness, Hope B. (2007). Animal Symbolism in World Art. Continuum. ISBN   978-0-8264-1913-2.
  31. ↑ "Il Cardellino".
  32. ↑ "2. I Stood tip-toe upon a little hill. Keats, John. 1884. The Poetical Works of John Keats". Bartleby.com. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
  33. ↑ Flood, Alison (13 February 2013). "Donna Tartt to publish first novel for 11 years". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2013. Further accessed 29 December 2017
  34. ↑ The Pulitzer Prizes. "The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown)". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2023-02-06.

Sources

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.