Fringilla montifringilla
Silhouette: Maxime Dahirel · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~60%
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 →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 2 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Gauja National Park | 🇱🇻 Latvia | |
| 5 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 6 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 7 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 8 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Vatnajokull National Park | 🇮🇸 Iceland | |
| 10 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 11 | Kluane National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 12 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 13 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 14 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 15 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 16 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 17 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 18 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 19 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 20 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 21 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 22 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 23 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 24 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beijing Wildlife Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Tashkent Zoo | 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | |
| 3 | Ueno Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 4 | Ueno Zoological Gardens (West Garden) | 🇯🇵 Japan |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brambling sighting in Nikko National Park on a given day, based on 64 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 53rd most-seen of the 102 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November and December
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Brambling in Nikko National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to August, the lowest months.
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.
Yes
Of the 24 parks where we can rate Brambling sightings, Nikko National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany, about 10%) and Wadden Sea National Park (Germany, about 10%).
Same family: Fringillidae
The closest relatives of the Brambling that you can see in Nikko National Park (family Fringillidae, Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) are Japanese Grosbeak (about 20%), Oriental Greenfinch (about 20%) and Eurasian Bullfinch (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brambling is recorded against all the birds logged in Nikko National Park (64 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
