Hawfinch Identification Guide
What I look like
The Hawfinch is easily recognized by its silhouette: a broad head and neck and a large, thick and powerful beak.
The Hawfinch has a reddish head, a black mask, a grey nape, and a large beak.
The upper side of its body is dark brown.
The underside is light brown.
The wings are grey-blue with a white patch, very visible in flight.
The female is lighter.
In winter, its beak is beige, in summer it is steel blue.
It is much larger than a Great Tit.
My songs, my calls
Perched or in flight, the Hawfinch sometimes makes piercing calls, more or less brief "tsic".
Its song is infrequent and goes unnoticed. A series of varied and jerky, sometimes metallic notes.
How I behave
The Hawfinch is difficult to observe because it lives high in the trees.
Rarely at feeding sites, it will choose feeders raised high.
With its impressive beak, it does not need to be aggressive.
Its flight is rapid at the treetops.
How I reproduce
The breeding season of the Hawfinch extends from April to August.
It produces 1 brood per year of 4 to 6 grey to greenish eggs, speckled with brown.
It nests in trees.
Its nest is a cup of twigs, stems, and roots.
What I eat
The Hawfinch feeds on tree seeds (maple, hornbeam, beech), buds, and pits.
It is capable of cracking cherry pits.
In spring, when seeds are scarce, it also feeds on caterpillars and insects.
Where to find me
The Hawfinch lives in deciduous or mixed forests and parks and gardens.
It is a sedentary species and sometimes a short-distance migrant.
Depending on the year, it migrates or stays depending on the availability of food.
In years with plenty of tree seeds, it will rarely be at the feeder and will stay in hornbeam, beech, and maple forests.