Some are regular garden visitors, and some are more secretive, woodland dwellers, but how many have you spotted? We’re here to lend you a helping hand with identifying members of one of the most varied bird families – finches.
Goldfinch
Latin name: Carduelis carduelis
Male & female: Both sexes are similar in appearance with a red, white and black face. They have a brown and black breast, and black wings with bright yellow bars.
Juvenile: Initially less colourful than their parents, juvenile goldfinches have a brown and streaky black head, back and breast. They can be spotted, however, by their black wings with yellow bars.
Location: Goldfinches are common across the UK and are a regular visitor to gardens and bird feeders.
What to feed goldfinches: Goldfinches love seeds, and our specialist goldfinch seed mix is nutritionally designed specifically for them with a blend of niger and other oily seeds.
Brambling
Latin name: Fringilla montifringilla
Male: The male brambling has a grey-blue head and an orange breast. They have dark wings with orange bars, and a white belly and rump.
Female: Similar markings to the male, however females have a brown head and their orange breast is duller in colour.
Juvenile: Young bramblings are similar in appearance to the female, however they are rarely seen in the UK.
Location: Bramblings are found in varying numbers across the UK during autumn and winter, and tend to favour beech woodlands in the east of England.
What to feed bramblings: Bramblings prefer seeds, particularly when visiting gardens in autumn and winter. Sunflower hearts are a nutritional choice, either offered from a feeder or scattered for them to forage. 
Common Crossbill
Latin name: Loxia curvirostra
Male: Sporting a rosy red head, breast and belly, the male crossbill can also be identified by dark grey wings and its namesake crossed bill.
Female: Different in appearance from the male, females have a grey-green head, breast and belly. They still, however, sport dark grey wings and the characteristic crossed bill.
Juvenile: Entirely different from either parent, juvenile crossbills are covered with streaky, grey-brown feathers all over.
Location: Common crossbills can be found in coniferous woodland across most of the UK, often feeding in the canopy.
What to feed common crossbills: Common crossbills mainly eat conifer seeds from cones, but may occasionally visit for sunflower hearts or other seeds.
Linnet
Latin name: Linaria cannabina
Male: A grey head marked with a pinky-red patch that is mirrored in the chest colour, and a dark brown back with a lighter brown belly.
Female: Much duller in colour than the male with a streaked, pale belly and breast. Females do not have any red markings at all.
Juvenile: Young linnets are similar in appearance to the female, but sport a deeper brown colour on the head.
Location: Linnets are widespread throughout the UK, particularly on lowland farmland.
What to feed linnets: Linnets mainly eat small seeds, both in gardens and in the wild. Niger seed from feeders or foraged from the ground makes an excellent supplement to their natural diet.
Chaffinch
Latin name: Fringilla coelebs
Male: Orange cheeks and breast, with a slate grey head and white wing bars. The male’s bill also turns from pink to silver during the summer.
Female: Lacking any orange colour at all, females are covered with buff brown tones and have white wings bars the same as the male.
Juvenile: Similar in appearance to the female.
Location: Chaffinches are common garden visitors and are widespread throughout the UK.
What to feed chaffinches: Chaffinches mainly eat seeds, so sunflower hearts or black sunflower hearts are an ideal offering. They generally forage on the ground, but will use hanging feeders.
Twite
Latin name: Carduelis flavirostris
Male: Less colourful than many other finches, the twite is streaky brown all over and has a stubby bill and a forked tail. During summer, the male’s rump turns a bright shade of pink.
Female: Similar in appearance to the male, but does not get a pink rump during summer.
Juvenile: Similar to the female
Location: Twites breed in the Scottish uplands, the Pennines and North Wales, Scottish Island and coastal parts of Northern Island. During winter, they can be found further afield but tend to stick to coastal areas.
What to feed twites: Like many of their finch family, twites eat small seeds. They’ll welcome niger seed from the ground or from low feeders.
Hawfinch
Latin name: Coccothraustes coccothraustes
Male: A heavy silver bill with a black mask, orange-brown head, grey neck and dark brown back. Wings are blue-black with a white bar.
Female: Similar markings to the male but duller in colour.
Juvenile: Young hawfinches lack the dark eye mask and also have a speckled belly
Location: A rare find, hawfinches can be located mainly in hornbeam woodland
What to feed hawfinches: Hawfinches mostly eat hard seeds and kernels, cracking tough shells with their strong beak. They rarely visit garden feeders, but may occasionally take sunflower hearts.
Greenfinch
Latin name: Chloris Chloris
Male: Olive-green, with bright yellow edges on its wings and tail. It has slight greyish tones on its back, and a conical bill.
Female: Similar markings to the male but duller, olive-green with yellow flashes.
Juvenile: Similar in colour to the female, but duller.
Location: Greenfinches live in pairs or small groups and can be found in parks and woodland throughout the UK. They are also common garden visitors.
What to feed greenfinches: Greenfinches mainly eat seeds. They’ll readily take niger seeds from a hanging feeder or the ground below it.
Lesser Redpoll
Latin name: Carduelis cabaret
Male: Streaky brown plumage with a red forehead, black bib and small yellow bill. Depending on temperature, the male’s breast can turn to a pink-red during summer.
Female: Similar in appearance to the male but without the summertime flush to the chest.
Juvenile: Similar to the female but lacking the red forehead.
Location: Lesser redpolls can mainly be found in birch or alder woodland.
What to feed lessser redpolls: Again, the lesser redpoll eats mainly small seeds, and will happily eat niger seeds from the ground or from feeders.
Siskin
Latin name: Spinus spinus
Male: Bright yellow cheeks and breast, delicate bill, black cap and bib, and yellow and black wing bars.
Female: Duller yellow head and back, black and yellow wing bars and a streaky breast and belly.
Juvenile: Streaky head, back, belly and breast. Pale yellow wing bars.
Location: Siskins tend to favour coniferous woodland but are also common garden visitors, especially when provided with seed!
What to feed siskins: In common with many other finches, small seeds form a large part of the siskin’s diet. Niger seeds from a feeder will be readily accepted by these striking birds.
Before you go…
Attract more finches to your feeders with high quality bird seed from Happy Beaks. Check out our specialist seed mix for Goldfinches, and enjoy bringing finches to your garden!
If you’d like to learn more about your feathered friends, and for more tips on identifying any flying visitors to you garden, take a look at our garden bird library.
What about the beautiful Bullfinch , the last time I saw one was over 2 years ago .