Finch

Finch

Carduelinae
Drepanidinae
Euphoniinae
Fringillinae

The true finches are passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. They are predominantly seed-eating songbirds. Most are native to the Northern Hemisphere, but one subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics, one to the Hawaiian Islands, and one subfamily – monotypic at genus level – is found only in the Palaearctic. The scientific name Fringillidae comes from the Latin word fringilla for the Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) – a member of that last subfamily – which is common in Europe.

Many birds in other families are also commonly called "finches", including some species in the very similar-looking waxbills or estrildid finches (family Passeridae, subfamily Estrildinae) of the Old World tropics and Australia; several groups of the bunting and American sparrow family (Emberizidae); and Darwin's finches of the Galapagos islands, which provided evidence of natural selection and are now recognized to be peculiar tanagers (Thraupidae).


Read more about Finch:  Description, Systematics and Taxonomy

Famous quotes containing the word finch:

    By the flow of the inland river,
    Whence the fleets of iron have fled,
    Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver,
    Asleep are the ranks of the dead:—
    —Francis Miles Finch (1827–1907)

    No more shall the war cry sever,
    Or the winding rivers be red:
    They banish our anger forever
    When they laurel the graves of our dead!
    Under the sod and the dew,
    Waiting the Judgment Day:—
    Love and tears for the Blue;
    Tears and love for the Gray.
    —Francis Miles Finch (1827–1907)