Hawfinch

admin
, 19 December 2017
Hawfinch
hawfinch © Roger Wilmshurst

By Charlotte Owen

WildCall Officer

It would be easy to dismiss December as a dull and boring month without much wildlife to see, and better spent wrapped up warm indoors. But the wintry weather brings with it an exciting chance to see some rare and unusual seasonal visitors, and this year we’ve been treated to a horde of hungry hawfinches.

Less than a handful of them breed here in Sussex and they are usually a scarce sight even in winter, when a few extra migrants arrive from continental Europe. This year, we’ve seen a record influx and a huge peak in reported hawfinch sightings, about 12 times higher than usual. It seems they’ve had a particularly successful breeding season and with more mouths to feed, hungry flocks are now on the move in search of seeds, hips and haws.

They can still be tricky birds to spot though because they’re shy and secretive, tending to stick to the treetops and fly at high altitude. Listen out for a ‘tic-tic’ call overhead or scan the highest branches for a group of stocky silhouettes, particularly at dusk as they gather together to roost. If you do manage to get a good view, the first thing you’ll notice about this heavily-built bird is the impressive beak, which is incredibly large and chunky even by finch standards. Powered by massive jaw muscles, this specialised bill can deliver a crushing force more than a thousand times greater than the bird’s own body weight, and it’s strong enough to crack the toughest of cherry stones with ease. Cherry seeds seem to be a hawfinch’s favourite snack but they will also eat the large seeds of beech and hornbeam and forage their way through the hedgerows for the red berries of hawthorn, sometimes feeding on the ground and often moving around in groups. Male and female hawfinches share the same striking plumage: a warm, orangey-brown head with black eye markings that can give them a bit of a frowny face, and a grey scarf around the muscular neck. If you’re lucky enough to see one of these fantastic finches, do let me know by calling 01273 494777 or emailing [email protected]

Leave a comment

Comments

  • John Whitlock:

    Went to Tanyard Fishery recently : apparently resident Egyptian geese , kingfisher and herons . A unique factor is the presence of pumpkinseed fish ( from the USA ) in the lakes there . Not a large species though really interesting in shape and colouration : part of the sunfish family .

    18 Apr 2018 12:11:41

  • Jenny:

    Hello Sussex Wildlife Trust
    Thought you might be interested to hear that my husband and I have just been watching a hawfinch taking a bath in our small garden wildlife pond. Haven’t seen one of these in donkeys years, not being a specialist birdwatcher, just a lover of wildlife. What a treat.
    Best wishes
    Jenny

    03 May 2019 12:43:00

  • Lorraine green:

    Hi, I just thought that I would report hawfinch visiting my garden. I thought someone’s little pet bird had escaped but when I see it back the next day I took photos

    08 Mar 2026 17:32:00

  • Sussex Wildlife Trust:

    That's a wonderful record for your garden Lorraine. Is this in Sussex? If so, please do send the photo and some details via iRecord, so it can be noted on the Sussex database. https://irecord.org.uk/ Thanks ~ Charlie 

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783519426.57750 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783519426.6030.0255Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783519426.60310.0001Server address: 216.73.216.55
1783519426.60320Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783519426.60320Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/hawfinch
    [s] => hawfinch
    [1] => hawfinch
)
1783519426.60350.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783519426.60440.0009 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783519426.60630.0019 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783519426.60690.0006INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783519426.60870.0018 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22784578
1783519426.60920.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22784578
1783519426.60970.0005 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-08 14:03:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-08 14:03:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783519426.61120.0015 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='hawfinch')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-08 14:03:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783519426.61380.0026 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783519426.61430.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1470 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-08 14:03:00'
1783519426.61520.0008 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783519426.61590.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783519426.61660.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=45 LIMIT 1
1783519426.61740.0009Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783519426.61780.0004 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783519426.61870.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-08 14:03:00' AND postSlug='hawfinch'
1783519426.63910.0204Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783519426.63970.0007 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783519426.64140.0016Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783519426.64160.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783519426.64240.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783519426.64360.0012 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783519426.64670.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783519426.64740.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783519426.64930.0019Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783519426.64930 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783519426.65020.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783519426.65080.0006 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783519426.65370.003 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783519426.65510.0014 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783519426.65580.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783519426.65840.0026 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783519426.65930.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783519426.66160.0022 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783519426.66210.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783519426.66250.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783519426.66360.0011Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783519426.6640.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='hawfinch')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-08 14:03:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783519426.66610.002 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783519426.66670.0006 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783519426.670.0034Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783519426.67140.0014 [3] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1470 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783519426.7790.1075 [3] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783519426.78070.0018Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783519426.78090.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783519426.78150.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783519426.78250.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783519426.7830.0005 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783519426.7850.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783519426.78550.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783519426.78740.0019 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783519426.78820.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783519426.78860.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783519426.78910.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783519426.79140.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783519426.79190.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783519426.79380.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783519426.79760.0038 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783519426.79890.0013 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783519426.80280.0039 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783519426.80770.0049 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783519426.8140.0063 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783519426.81610.0021 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783519426.81850.0025 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783519426.82190.0034 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783519426.82270.0008 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783519426.82490.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783519426.82540.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783519426.82730.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783519426.82850.0012Request time: 0.2528
1783519426.82850Process time: 0.2526
1783519426.82850Memory: 1.6221