苍头燕雀种

分布

苍头燕雀的分布范围为欧洲、北非至西亚。

行为

苍头燕雀喜居于开阔林地，也常见于花园或田野间。它们在树杈上筑窝，并用苔藓或地衣铺在窝的外面，使其更为隐蔽。每次孵化约6个蛋。苍头燕雀在气候比较温和的地区不迁徙，但是在冬季会避开比较寒冷的地区。该鸟种是卡尔·林奈本人命名的。在林内的故乡瑞典，雌性苍头燕雀在冬季经常抛弃其雄性配偶独自迁徙，所以其拉丁语学名的第二个单词“coelebs”的意思是“单身汉”。在非繁殖季节，这种鸟类有时集结成群，但是组织不太严密。苍头燕雀有时会迷途飞到北美。

该鸟种幼年时食昆虫（与大多数雀类一样），成年时食种子为生。成年雄性一般能够唱2到3种不同的鸟歌。和很多其它鸟类一样，其鸟歌具有地域性。

苍头燕雀以其美妙响亮的歌声而出名。

英国鸟类学家William Thorpe对苍头燕雀幼雏的鸟歌学习进行了研究。他发现，如果幼雏在学习鸟歌的关键期不接触其它成年鸟类唱出的歌曲的话，他就永远也无法歌唱正常的鸟歌。他还发现，阉割的雄鸟无法正常唱歌，但是如果给这些鸟注射睾酮（一种雄性激素）的话，它们即使在冬季十一月也会唱歌。

The Eurasian chaffinch, common chaffinch, or simply the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) is a common and widespread small passerine bird – in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is more subdued in colouring, but both sexes have two contrasting white wing bars and white sides to the tail. The male bird has a strong voice and sings from exposed perches to attract a mate.

The chaffinch breeds in much of Europe, across the Palearctic to Siberia. The female builds a nest with a deep cup in the fork of a tree. The clutch is typically four or five eggs, which hatch in about 13 days. The chicks fledge in around 14 days, but are fed by both adults for several weeks after leaving the nest. Outside the breeding season, chaffinches form flocks in open countryside and forage for seeds on the ground. During the breeding season, they forage on trees for invertebrates, especially caterpillars, and feed these to their young. They are partial migrants; birds breeding in warmer regions are sedentary, while those breeding in the colder northern areas of their range winter further south.

The eggs and nestlings of the chaffinch are taken by a variety of mammalian and avian predators. Its large numbers and huge range mean that chaffinches are classed as of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.