Brambling

Fringilla montifringilla Linnaeus, 1758

≈16 cmLength27 cmWingspan23 gWeight

In the breeding season, the male has a black head, orange breast, white belly and white rump.

Busiest months: October · Most records: China, United Kingdom, South Korea

Looks like Eurasian Chaffinch

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Rump white
Orange breast contrasts strongly with white belly
Scapulars orange, with dark spots on the sides of the body
Bill yellow, black in the male in the breeding season

Male, female and young

Females and younger birds are less striking, resembling some individuals of Eurasian Chaffinch.

Similar species

Eurasian Chaffinch

Eurasian Chaffinch has a gray-green rump, more uniformly colored underparts, gray or gray-brown scapulars, plain, unspotted sides and white outer tail feathers.

Where and when it's recorded

Brambling has been recorded at 1,918 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 78 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

St. Paul IslandUnited States1,453 records
Titchwell Marsh RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom1,014 records
HelgolandGermany880 records

More places

Jerusalem Bird ObservatoryIsrael778 records
Spurn Bird Observatory Recording AreaUnited Kingdom742 records
GambellUnited States732 records
Lynford ArboretumUnited Kingdom720 records
Hel – CypelPoland689 records
Taipei – Tianliaoyang WetlandTaiwan (China)652 records
Jinshan – Jinshan Youth Activity CenterTaiwan (China)608 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China United Kingdom South Korea Japan United States Sweden Germany Spain

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It has also been called the cock o' the north and the mountain finch. It is widespread and migratory, often seen in very large flocks.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Brambling?

The Brambling is about ≈16 cm long, with a wingspan of 27 cm and weighs around 23 g.

Where does the Brambling live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: widespread, northern Europe through Russia, northern Kazakhstan, northwestern Mongolia to Russian Far East. It is most often recorded in China, United Kingdom and South Korea.