Fringilla coelebs
Silhouette: Maxime Dahirel · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The Eurasian chaffinch, common chaffinch, or simply the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) is a common and widespread small passerine bird – in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is more subdued in colouring, but both sexes have two contrasting white wing bars and white sides to the tail. The male bird has a strong voice and sings from exposed perches to attract a mate.
The chaffinch breeds in much of Europe, across the Palearctic to Siberia. The female builds a nest with a deep cup in the fork of a tree. The clutch is typically four or five eggs, which hatch in about 13 days. The chicks fledge in around 14 days, but are fed by both adults for several weeks after leaving the nest. Outside the breeding season, chaffinches form flocks in open countryside and forage for seeds on the ground. During the breeding season, they forage on trees for invertebrates, especially caterpillars, and feed these to their young. They are partial migrants; birds breeding in warmer regions are sedentary, while those breeding in the colder northern areas of their range winter further south.
The eggs and nestlings of the chaffinch are taken by a variety of mammalian and avian predators. Its large numbers and huge range mean that chaffinches are classed as of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Wikipedia →
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lusen National Park Centre | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Chișinău Zoo | 🇲🇩 Moldova | |
| 3 | Penza Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 4 | Stichting Dierenpark | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 5 | Zoo Hirschstetten | 🇦🇹 Austria |
Very likely
About 90% of wildlife watchers report a Chaffinch sighting in Plitvice Lakes National Park on a given day, based on 465 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the most-seen of the 76 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month over 90% of wildlife watchers report a Chaffinch in Plitvice Lakes National Park on a given day, against about 70% in November, the lowest month. December to February have too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chaffinch sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 34 parks where we can rate Chaffinch sightings, Plitvice Lakes National Park ranks 2nd at about 90%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park (New Zealand, about 90%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Fringillidae
The closest relatives of the Chaffinch that you can see in Plitvice Lakes National Park (family Fringillidae, Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) are European Greenfinch (about 30%), Eurasian Goldfinch (about 30%) and Hawfinch (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chaffinch is recorded against all the birds logged in Plitvice Lakes National Park (465 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.
