GREENFINCH (Carduelis chloris) - Verdier d’Europe
Greenfinch © Frank Jarvis
SUMMARY
A great looking bird with a very lively cheerful song usually delivered from an exposed perch:
The song of the Greenfinch is a series of complex trills and whistles, the basic note of which is a rapidly repeated "kip" sound, perhaps a bit reminiscent of a canary:
Male Greenfinch on a singing perch © Arlette Berlie
This song may sound confusing, but we can break it down into a few elements that are very distinctive and immediately identify this bird. One characteristic sound is a rather horrible nasal "tscheeeer", its hard to call it "song" as it is such an unmusical note. It can be made on its own when it sounds more like a call, but it is also included in song sequences. Cardueline finches seem to get calls and songs confused !
This noise has a slight inflection so it is on a rising scale:
Greenfinch “tscheeeer” song
Female Greenfinch © Arlette Berlie
Another characteristic sound is a sort of deep swirl that has a hockey-stick shape to it:
Greenfinch “swirl”
You can hear it in this sequence:
Finally another distinctive phrase frequently used is a strong "chew-chew-chew":
Greenfinch “chew-chew-chew”
Listen for it here:
So yes, a pretty complex and confusing set of phrases and songs, but a wonderful sound when it is all strung together. Here is a 2 minute sequence of a very excited male singing rapidly and strong and using just about all of the phrases described above:
This type of musical stream is usually delivered from an exposed perch so everyone is aware of its presence - but just in case someone loses attention then Greenfinches can also be seen singing in flight - during a song flight the wing beat is often slowed down and it flies in a very buoyant bouncy kind of manner rather reminiscent of a butterfly!
(Here is some nice artwork to peruse as you listen to that last long song).
Greenfinch studies © Frank Jarvis
