[All pictures of garden wildlife on this page are thumbnails. Click on any thumbnail for a large format to be displayed.]

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)

Clickhere for the bird's sound.

This is one of the most beautiful of the finches. At first glance it shows resemblance to the Chaffinch, but the colours are much brighter and the entire bird is larger en shows more contrast. The best way to observe this bird is to keep an eye on your pond. When you're lucky it will show up every now and then, mainly to take a bath. In Holland the bird is rather rare and that's the reason that in certain years I don't see the creature at all. According to literature it will feed from the feeding table in the garden, but I've never seen one doing that.

This bird belongs to the family of Finches (Fringillidae). It is very rare in our garden, but can be seen in Holland all year round. The bird is 6" and weighs 26 grams. It lives in woodlands, parks and gardens mostly. It eats seeds, berries, buds and insects. Compared to the male, the female is more brownish. The bird will make a nest in trees, sometimes three times a year between march and the end of august. The four to six eggs will be bred for 13 days. After hatching the Bullfinch takes care of its young for just over two weeks.