Brambling

Brambling

Fringilla montifringilla

Silhouette: Maxime Dahirel · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Seoul

In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%

1,661 Verified sightings at Seoul
1,071 In all 24 parks From 2019 to 2026
February Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Brambling

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.

In 1758 Linnaeus included the species in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name, Fringilla montifringilla. Montifringilla is from Latin mons, montis mountain and fringilla finch. The English name "bramlyng" (Bram "loud" + lyng "lung") was used in 1544 by the English naturalist William Turner but later in the 16th century the current spelling "brambling" was used. The etymology of the name is uncertain as the bird is not associated with the bramble or common blackberry Rubus fruticosus.

The brambling is similar in size and shape to a common chaffinch. Breeding-plumaged male bramblings are very distinctive, with a black head, dark upperparts, orange breast and white belly. Females and younger birds are less distinct, and more similar in appearance to some chaffinches. In all plumages, however, bramblings differs from chaffinches in a number of features:

the brambling has a white rump... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Flight call0:11

France · 2025

© Guillaume Bigayon · XC1186844 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:31

Norway · 2026

© bert de bruin · XC1184946 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:35

Sweden · 2022

© Marc Anderson · XC1079914 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Nikko National Park 🇯🇵 Japan
~10%
2 Bavarian Forest National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~10%
3 Wadden Sea National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~10%
4 Gauja National Park 🇱🇻 Latvia
<5%
5 Kiskunság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
<5%
6 Biebrza National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
<5%
7 Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park 🇲🇳 Mongolia
<5%
8 Cévennes National Park 🇫🇷 France
<5%
9 Vatnajokull National Park 🇮🇸 Iceland
<5%
10 Białowieża National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
<5%
11 Kluane National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
12 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
<5%
13 Banff National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
14 Fertő-Hanság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
<5%
15 Hortobágy National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
<5%
16 Sierra Nevada National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
17 Aigüestortes National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
18 Taroko National Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan
<5%
19 Cairngorms National Park 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
<5%
20 Camargue 🇫🇷 France
<5%
21 Monfragüe National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
22 Snowdonia National Park 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
<5%
23 Sierra de Guadarrama National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
24 Olympic National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Mashhad 🇮🇷 Iran
~50%
2 Bishkek 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan
~40%
3 Dushanbe 🇹🇯 Tajikistan
~40%
4 Beijing 🇨🇳 China
~30%
5 Almaty 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
~30%
6 Nanchang 🇨🇳 China
~30%
7 Tianjin 🇨🇳 China
~20%
8 Dalian 🇨🇳 China
~20%
9 Seoul 🇰🇷 South Korea
~20%
10 Jinan 🇨🇳 China
~20%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Beijing Wildlife Park 🇨🇳 China In captivity
2 Tashkent Zoo 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan In captivity
3 Ueno Zoo 🇯🇵 Japan In captivity
4 Ueno Zoological Gardens (West Garden) 🇯🇵 Japan In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Brambling in Seoul?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Brambling sighting in Seoul on a given day, based on 1,661 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 27th most-seen of the 231 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Brambling in Seoul?

January to March

In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Brambling in Seoul on a given day, against under 5% in May to September, the lowest months. Those are among Seoul's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain a month against 360 mm in July.

What time of day is best to see a Brambling?

Between 10 am and 1 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brambling sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Seoul the best place to see a Brambling?

9th of 82

Of the 82 cities where we can rate Brambling sightings, Seoul ranks 9th at about 20%. The best odds are in Mashhad (Iran, about 50%), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan, about 40%) and Dushanbe (Tajikistan, about 40%).

Which relatives of the Brambling live in Seoul?

Same family: Fringillidae

The closest relatives of the Brambling that you can see in Seoul (family Fringillidae, Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) are Yellow-billed Grosbeak (about 20%), Oriental Greenfinch (about 20%) and Hawfinch (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Brambling sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Brambling is recorded against all the birds logged in Seoul (1,661 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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