Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) [XC891780]
by Patrik \u00c5berg from Viborg, Viborg Municipality, Central Denmark Region, Denmark (call)
Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) [XC881778]
by Paul Kelly from Landsort, Nyn\u00e4shamn Municipality, Stockholms l\u00e4n, Sweden (call, flight call)
Nest
A twig platform, from 1 to 2 meters above the ground, in dense cover.
Eggs (Guide)
4 - 5; greenish-blue with rather sparse purple-brown spots and streaks, mostly in a zone at the larger end. Incubation: about 13 days.
Subspecies
Pyrrhula pyrrhula (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) and Azores Bullfinch (Pyrrhula murina) following Ramos (1993) contra AERC TAC (2003).
Previously considered conspecific with Azores Bullfinch (Pyrrhula murina), but considerable differences in morphological characters. Subspecies cineracea and griseiventris sometimes considered to represent two additional species, but intergrade with other subspecies. Subspecies rossikowi and caspica sometimes treated as synonyms of nominate, possibly with some justification, but further research on range of variation within nominate (and probably europoea) required. Nominate subspecies intergrades over wide areas with europoea in south-central Europe and with cassinii and griseiventris in eastern Asia, populations of large and small individuals merging in somewhat clinal manner; several additional subspecies proposed on basis of small differences in plumage tones of face, upperparts and underparts and in wing measurements, e.g. coccinea (described from Baden, in south-western Germany), germanica (from Thuringia, in east-central Germany) and paphlagoniae (from near Bolu, in north-western Turkey), all synonymized with nominate, and roseacea (from Yokohama, in eastern Honshu, in Japan), treated as synonym of griseiventris. Some regional variation also within pileata. Birds from Ireland paler than those in southern England, and males in western and central Scotland slightly darker and females paler or greyer than corresponding sexes in central England.
The following 10 subspecies are recognised:
pileata MacGillivray, W, 1837 - British Is.
europoea Vieillot, 1816 - Western and central Europe (western and central France east to Netherlands and western Denmark, south to Italy).
iberiae Voous, 1952 - South-western France (Pyrenees) and mountains of northern Portugal and northern Spain.
pyrrhula (Linnaeus, 1758) - Northern, south-central and eastern Europe eastern across Siberia to Verkhoyansk Mts and Sea of Okhotsk, south to northern Greece, central Romania and east through Ukraine to north-eastern Kazakhstan, north-western China (north-western Xinjiang) and northern Mongolia. Winters south to southern Europe, south-western and central Asia.
rossikowi Derjugin, 1900 - Northern and south-central Turkey, Caucasus (except south-east) and north-western Iran.
caspica Witherby, 1908 - Azerbaijan and northern Iran.
cineracea Cabanis, 1872 - Western, south-central and eastern Siberia (R Ob, western Altai and northern Sayan Mts east to Sea of Okhotsk and Japan Sea), north-eastern Kazakhstan and northern Mongolia, probably also north-eastern China (north-eastern Inner Mongolia and northern Heilongjiang).
cassinii Baird, SF, 1869 - Breeds Russian Far East (western and northern shores of Sea of Okhotsk, southern Koryakland, Kamchatka and northern Kuril Is); migrates south to south-eastern Russia (Amurland and Ussuriland), Sakhalin I and north-eastern China (Heilongjiang south to northern Hebei).
griseiventris Lafresnaye, 1841 - Russian Far East (eastern Amurland and Ussuriland), Sakhalin I, central and southern Kuril Is, and northern Japan (Hokkaido and northern Honshu). Winters south to north-eastern China (Heilongjiang south to Liaoning), Korea and central and southern Japan.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet