Mountain finch

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Mountain finch
Mountain Finch (Fringilla montifringilla), male in magnificent dress singing? / I

Mountain finch ( Fringilla montifringilla ), male in magnificent dress singing ? / i
Audio file / audio sample

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Family : Finches (Fringillidae)
Subfamily : Fringillinae
Genre : Fine Finches ( Fringilla )
Type : Mountain finch
Scientific name
Fringilla montifringilla
Linnaeus , 1758
Males in transition from winter to splendid plumage
Mountain finch, female
Occasionally mountain finches form huge schools. In January 2009 a swarm of four million animals could be seen in Lödersdorf ( Styria ).
Mountain finches approaching their winter rest in the evening - here in Haiger-Steinbach (Hesse)

The mountain finch or northern finch ( Fringilla montifringilla ) is a songbird species from the subfamily of noble finches (Fringillinae) within the finch family (Fringillidae). It shows the most pronounced migratory behavior among finches.

Appearance

With a body length of 15 cm, the mountain finch is about the size of a sparrow. In the winter months, the male mountain finch shows a brownish-gray feathered head, neck and front back. In the summer, however, these are black. The chest and shoulder patch are pinnate in orange. There is white plumage on the lower tail as well as on the belly and the rear chest.

The female is much more simply colored. It has a brownish head with dark stripes on the top of the head. The back is also mottled brown, and the breast is more dull orange in color than that of the male.

Eggs of the mountain finch

voice

Chant - coarse, loud trrrrrr (it is similar to the fragment of the chant Greenfinch ). The scream - sharp chyää , during the flight - short sounds tk-tk .

distribution

The mountain finch borders on the distribution area of ​​the chaffinch and is mainly native to the Scandinavian birch forests . It is widespread from Norway to Kamchatka . In Europe this bird can be found as far as the southern border of Norway, central Sweden , southern Finland and northern and central Russia . Mountain finches only breed in Central Europe in exceptional cases .

In its range, the mountain finch is the most common breeding bird next to the fitis . During the migration period it leaves its breeding area completely. It can then be found in Central Europe in a wide variety of habitats. One finds it mainly in forests with beech stands ; so z. B. in the Swabian Schönbuch . To spend the night, the birds often invade certain spruce forests locally in swarms of millions for weeks at dusk. So in the high winter of 2010 until March 17th in the Hotzenwald near Görwihl and from about December 19, 2014 for at least 1 month in southern Baden between Schopfheim and the town of Hasel on the eastern edge of the Lörrach district - observed, photographed and filmed by thousands of interested people, including from Switzerland. During this time, mountain finches can occasionally be seen at feeding grounds, where they prefer to eat sunflower seeds.

food

Similar to the chaffinch, the mountain finch lives on insects and invertebrates during the summer . In the winter months he mainly eats seeds, with beechnuts making up a large proportion.

hunt

Bohemian or mountain finch hunting

From ancient times until bird hunting was banned in 1908, mountain finches were hunted at night in the southern Palatinate with the help of blowguns and clay balls. The animals sat close together on the branches of the pines and spruces. If a bird was shot from the tree, the other animals moved together again to close the gap. So the mountain finches were easy prey.

In the southern Palatinate, the mountain finch is also called Böhämmer or Behemmer (from Beheimer , derived from Beheim 'Böhmen'), a name for migratory birds that are seen as vagabonds among birds.

Web links

Wiktionary: Bergfink  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Fringilla montifringilla  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Bergfink on wildvogelhilfe.org
  2. Palatinate Dictionary Böhämmer , Vol. I, Sp. 1073.