BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Chaffinch

CHAFFINCH
Fringilla coelebs

• Population
changes

• Productivity
trends

• Additional
information

Conservation listings

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

Long-term trend

UK, England: shallow increase

UK population size

5,974,000 territories in 2000 (1988–91 Atlas estimate updated using CBC/BBS trend: BiE04, APEP06)

Status summary

Chaffinch abundance has increased rapidly since the early 1970s, according to CBC/BBS and CES, but numbers seemed to stabilise for a period during the 1990s. This relative stability was associated with a reduction in annual survival, which could be density-dependent (Siriwardena et al. 1999). There was also some evidence of improved breeding performance during the early years of population increase, with larger brood sizes and fewer egg-stage nest failures, but these trends are now reversed. The trend towards earlier laying may be partly explained by recent climate change (Crick & Sparks 1999). Chaffinches are well adapted to suburban and garden habitats, as well as to highly fragmented woodland and hedgerows, occurring less in the open-field, arable habitats that have been affected most by agricultural intensification, so it is possible that they have benefited by environmental changes from which other seed-eating passerines have suffered.

Population changes

CBC/BBS UK graph

Table of population changes for Chaffinch

Source	Period (yrs)	Years	Plots (n)	Change (%)	Lower limit	Upper limit	Alert	Comment
CBC/BBS UK	39	1967-2006	821	30	14	45
	25	1981-2006	1164	19	11	30
	10	1996-2006	2291	12	7	16
	5	2001-2006	2406	7	4	10
CBC/BBS England	39	1967-2006	651	38	22	56
	25	1981-2006	915	27	18	39
	10	1996-2006	1781	17	13	21
	5	2001-2006	1860	8	5	11
CES adults	22	1984-2006	78	27	-27	106
	10	1996-2006	88	-9	-28	13
	5	2001-2006	84	-1	-11	11
CES juveniles	22	1984-2006	59	75	-21	251
	10	1996-2006	69	21	-31	86
	5	2001-2006	69	43	10	70
BBS UK	11	1995-2006	2129	13	9	18
	10	1996-2006	2190	11	7	16
	5	2001-2006	2406	6	4	9
BBS England	11	1995-2006	1648	18	14	22
	10	1996-2006	1693	16	13	20
	5	2001-2006	1860	8	5	10
BBS Scotland	11	1995-2006	205	6	-3	20
	10	1996-2006	207	5	-4	17
	5	2001-2006	211	7	-1	15
BBS Wales	11	1995-2006	186	-3	-17	11
	10	1996-2006	193	0	-11	11
	5	2001-2006	223	6	-1	14
BBS N.Ireland	11	1995-2006	79	37	4	57
	10	1996-2006	86	20	-3	33
	5	2001-2006	98	-5	-14	6

CBC/BBS England graph

CES adult abundance graph

CES juvenile abundance graph

BBS England graph

BBS Scotland graph

BBS Wales graph

BBS N Ireland graph

Productivity trends

Table of productivity changes for Chaffinch

Variable	Period (yrs)	Years	Mean annual sample	Trend	Modelled in first year	Modelled in 2006	Change	Comment
Clutch size	38	1968-2006	86	Curvilinear	4.22 eggs	4.03 eggs	-4.4%
Brood size	38	1968-2006	136	Curvilinear	3.57 chicks	3.49 chicks	-2.5%
Daily failure rate (eggs)	38	1968-2006	165	Curvilinear	2.97% nests/day	3.68% nests/day	23.9%
Daily failure rate (chicks)	38	1968-2006	116	None
Laying date	38	1968-2006	107	Linear decline	May 11	May 3	-8 days
Juvenile to Adult ratio (CES)	22	1984-2006	84	Smoothed trend	62 Index value	100 Index value	61%
Juvenile to Adult ratio (CES)	10	1996-2006	95	Smoothed trend	103 Index value	100 Index value	-3%
Juvenile to Adult ratio (CES)	5	2001-2006	92	Smoothed trend	86 Index value	100 Index value	16%

Clutch size graph

Brood size graph

Egg nest failure graph

Chick nest failure graph

Laying date graph

CES productivity graph

Additional information


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This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Leech, D.I., Joys, A.C., Noble, D.G., Barimore, C., Grantham, M.J., Risely, K. & Robinson, R.A. (2009). Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2008. BTO Research Report No. 516. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Iain Downie, Mandy T Andrews and Laura Smith: Last updated 18.02.2009