BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Greenfinch

GREENFINCH
Carduelis chloris

Conservation listings

Europe: no SPEC category (concentrated in Europe, conservation status favourable)
UK: Green

Long-term trend

UK, England: shallow increase

Distribution maps

Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.

Status summary

Greenfinch abundance varied little up to the mid 1990s, and there was little change in either survival or breeding performance during this period (Siriwardena et al. 1998b, 2000b). More recent CBC/BBS data indicate population increases widely across the UK during the 1990s, which have occurred despite a decrease in productivity indicated by CES data. A continuing decline in productivity could presage a future population downturn, but the CES trend could perhaps be an artefact of changing feeding opportunities for young Greenfinches in summer. The trend towards earlier laying may be explained by recent climate change (Crick & Sparks 1999).

Table of population changes for Greenfinch

Source	Period (yrs)	Years	Plots (n)	Change (%)	Lower limit	Upper limit	Alert	Comment
CBC/BBS UK	35	1967-2002	436	20	-11	46
	25	1977-2002	555	24	1	46
	10	1992-2002	1162	33	21	44
	5	1997-2002	1566	15	11	20
CBC/BBS England	35	1967-2002	372	29	6	66
	25	1977-2002	472	25	4	50
	10	1992-2002	988	35	23	48
	5	1997-2002	1317	18	13	22
CES adults	18	1984-2002	41	54	.	.
	10	1992-2002	47	0	.	.
	5	1997-2002	46	2	.	.
CES juveniles	18	1984-2002	24	-48	.	.	[>25]
	10	1992-2002	30	-26	.	.	[>25]
	5	1997-2002	31	10	.	.
BBS UK	9	1994-2003	1329	30	23	37
BBS England	9	1994-2003	1121	30	23	38
BBS Scotland	9	1994-2003	81	12	-13	46
BBS Wales	9	1994-2003	86	14	-9	44
BBS N.Ireland	9	1994-2003	33	175	52	397

Table of productivity information for Greenfinch

Variable	Period (yrs)	Years	Mean annual sample	Trend	Predicted in first year	Predicted in last year	Change	Comment
Clutch size	34	1968-2002	92	None
Brood size	34	1968-2002	112	Curvilinear	4.02 chicks	3.66 chicks	-0.36 chicks
Daily failure rate (eggs)	34	1968-2002	128	Linear decline	0.0246 nests/day	0.0192 nests/day	-0.0054 nests/day
Daily failure rate (chicks)	34	1968-2002	94	None
Laying date	34	1968-2002	94	Linear decline	day 145	day 132	-13 days
Percentage juveniles (CES)	18	1984-2002	45	Smoothed trend	285 productivity index	102 productivity index	-65%[>50]
Percentage juveniles (CES)	10	1992-2002	53	Smoothed trend	159 productivity index	102 productivity index	-37%[>25]
Percentage juveniles (CES)	5	1997-2002	52	Smoothed trend	99 productivity index	102 productivity index	1%


	BTO Home \| JNCC Home BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU, UK. © British Trust for Ornithology (Registered Charity Number 216652). Terms and Conditions \| Privacy Statement Email:
This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004. BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006