Oriental Greenfinch

Chloris sinica (Linnaeus, 1766)

≈14 cmLength19 gWeight

It has bright yellow patches on the wings and golden-yellow bases to the tail feathers.

Busiest months: May · Most records: China, Japan, South Korea

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Bright yellow patches at the bases of the flight feathers
Tail feathers golden-yellow at the bases, black at the tips
Crown, ear-coverts and nape gray
Bill, legs and feet flesh-pink

Male, female and young

The sexes are similar in appearance, but the female is slightly duller.

Voice

Soft, continuous piping notes that carry a long way.

Where and when it's recorded

Oriental Greenfinch has been recorded at 1,158 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 8 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Olympic Forest Park SouthChina862 records
Edogawa Ward – Kasai Rinkai Park / Kasai Kaihin ParkJapan821 records
Shahe ReservoirChina755 records

More places

Beijing Botanical GardenChina728 records
Peking UniversityChina516 records
Olympic Forest ParkChina446 records
Temple of HeavenChina437 records
Baiwangshan Forest ParkChina403 records
Kinmen – Agricultural Research InstituteChina400 records
Old Summer Palace [Yuanming Yuan]China398 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China Japan South Korea Russia Vietnam Mongolia United States Thailand

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 Oriental greenfinch (Chloris sinica), also known as the grey-capped greenfinch, is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae that breeds in broadleaf and conifer woodlands of the East Palearctic.

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

Questions

How big is the Oriental Greenfinch?

The Oriental Greenfinch is about ≈14 cm long and weighs around 19 g.

Where does the Oriental Greenfinch live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic, Oriental: northern temperate to subtropical eastern Palearctic in woods, bushes, gardens: Ussuriland, Kamchatka, Kuril Islands and Sakhalin (southeastern Russia), Hokkaido to Tsushima (northern to southern Japan), Qinghai and Gansu south to northern Yunnan and through eastern China, Korean Peninsula to coastal central Vietnam. It is most often recorded in China, Japan and South Korea.

When is the best time to see the Oriental Greenfinch?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in May (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Oriental Greenfinch endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Oriental Greenfinch as Least Concern.

What does the Oriental Greenfinch eat?

Main food: Seeds.

What family is the Oriental Greenfinch in?

It belongs to the family Finches, Euphonias (Fringillidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).

At a glance

Length: ≈14 cm
Weight: 19 g
Habitat: Shrubland
Diet: Seeds
Lifestyle: Varied
Migration: Resident (barely migrates)
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 76 mm
Tail: 48 mm
Bill: 14 mm
Tarsus: 14 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Palearctic, Oriental: northern temperate to subtropical eastern Palearctic in woods, bushes, gardens: Ussuriland, Kamchatka, Kuril Islands and Sakhalin (southeastern Russia), Hokkaido to Tsushima (northern to southern Japan), Qinghai and Gansu south to northern Yunnan and through eastern China, Korean Peninsula to coastal central Vietnam

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 3

Chloris sinica ussuriensis Ussuriland (se Russia), Korean Pen. and ne China
Chloris sinica kawarahiba Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Kuril Is. (se Russia) and ne Hokkaido (n Japan) | non-breeding: to se China and Taiwan (China) (rare)
Chloris sinica sinica c, e China to coastal c Vietnam