More Morton Magic #9: Shy but Striking!
This is the 9th of a 17-cache series which will take you on a wonderful 6km looping trail up the deep Morton valley through Sunnydale and The Glen passing historical farm and residential buildings, industrial ruins, mill ponds and weirs, rich deciduous and pine woodlands, a reservoir, waterfall, low moorland, farm fields and then back down an old track and flower-festooned path into the village.
The cache, a small camo-taped storage container, is hidden just off the trail as it skirts the northern edge of The Glen woodland bordering the moorland.
Another bird you may be lucky to spot as you explore Sunnyland and The Glen is the (Eurasian or Common) bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) a small passerine bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. The Latin word pyrrhula comes from the Greek πυρρός (a flame-coloured bird, from πυρρός flame coloured, from πυρ fire). Its English name relates to its plump, heavily built shape and bull-like neck.
Of the 10 subspecies the one found in Britains is P. p. pileata
It is a bulky bull-headed bird with grey upper parts, black flight feathers, short thick bill, cap and face in adults (greyish-brown in juveniles), and white rump and wing bars which are striking in flight.
The adult male has red underparts, but females and young birds have grey-buff underparts. It moults between July and October, but males do not have the duller autumn plumage that is typical of some other finches.
The song of this shy unobtrusive bird has fluted whistles, and is often described as 'mournful'. Its usual call is a quiet, low, melancholy whistled 'peeu' or 'pew' audible only if nearby (listen here). It is a weak, scratchy warbling, alternating with soft whistles. Tamed bullfinches can be taught to repeat specific melodies.
It breeds across Europe and temperate Asia. It is mainly resident, but many northern birds migrate further south in the winter. It favours mixed woodland with some conifers [such as this area] for breeding, including parkland and gardens.
Unlike some other finches it does not form large flocks outside the breeding season, and is usually seen as a pair or family group. It is known to remain faithful to its partner for life.
It builds a flimsy nest of twigs and moss in a bush, (preferably over 4m tall and wide, eg. hawthorn or
blackthorn), mature stands of scrub, or a tree, laying 4-7 pale blue eggs mottled with red-brown. It produces 2-3 broods per season, from early May to mid-July. Chicks fledge in 15-17 days.
It has a varied diet including seeds, insects, grain and especially berries and tree buds, something which in the past brought them into serious conflict with the fruit farming industry. Ash and hawthorn are favoured in autumn and early winter. If wild bird cover is provided it prefers kale, quinoa and millet next to tall hedges or woodland. Invertebrates will also be caught to feed chicks in the nest.
It has a unique sac in the floor of its mouth that can be used to store food! This allows it to forage at greater distances when feeding young.
In 16th century England and Wales the birds were considered so serious a pest in orchards that they were listed and targeted in the 1566 Act for the Preservation of Grayne, with a bounty paid of 'one peny for the head of every Bulfynche or other Byrde that devoureth the blowth of Fruite'.
Administration of this was the responsibility of local churchwardens and parish officers. In various church accounts of the time, references are made to payments for 'malps, hoops and nopps', all colloquial names, coming from an old name for the bullfinch, 'alpe'. The method regularly used to catch the birds was the placing of lime on the twigs and branches of favoured perching sites with 1,000s killed annually.
In later times Bullfinches were desired as captive birds for their beautiful plumage, with many also believing that the caged bird could be trained to mimic music.
Although it is now fully protected under wildlife legislation in Ireland, in parts of England it may be still be
killed under licence, for the purpose of 'preventing serious damage to agriculture'.
Bullfinches are in decline, with an estimated drop of nearly 40% since 1970. Loss and damage of woodland and orchards has been an important factor in this fall, as has the loss of trees and hedgerows in the wider countryside.
See short videos here (feeding on berries), here (feeding on seeds), and here (in the garden/calling).