Brambling

In 1758 Linnaeus included the species in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name, Fringilla montifringilla.{{ cite book | editor-last=Paynter | editor-first=Raymond A. Jnr. | year=1968 | title=Check-list of birds of the world, Volume 14 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=206 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14481407 }}{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first= C. | author-link= Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title= Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1| volume= v.1 | edition=10th | page=179 | publisher=Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii | language = la | url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727086 }} Montifringilla is from Latin mons, montis mountain and fringilla finch.{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling |publisher = Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n260 260] }} The English name "bramlyng" (Bram "loud" + lyng "lung") was used in 1544 by the English naturalist William Turner but later in the 16th century the current spelling "brambling" was used.{{cite book | last=Turner | first=William | author-link= William Turner (naturalist) | year=1544 | title=Avium praecipuarum, quarum apud Plinium et Aristotelem mentio est, brevis et succincta historia | location=[Cologne] | publisher=Johann Gymnicus | at=Pages are unnumbered | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s106AAAAcAAJ&pg=PP59 }}{{cite book | last=Turner | first=William | author-link= William Turner (naturalist) | translator=Evans, A.H. | translator-link=Arthur Humble Evans | year=1903 | orig-date=1544 | title=Turner on birds: a short and succinct history of the principal birds noticed by Pliny and Aristotle first published by Doctor William Turner, 1544 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | location=Cambridge | language=Latin, English | page=72 | url=https://archive.org/stream/turneronbirdssho00turn#page/72/mode/1up }}{{ cite book | last1=Veron | first1=John | author-link=John Véron | date=1575 | chapter=Montifrigilla | title=A Dictionary in Latine and English | location=London | publisher=H. Middleton for J. Harrison | at=Pages unnumbered | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H85lAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP431 }} The etymology of the name is uncertain as the bird is not associated with the bramble or common blackberry Rubus fruticosus.{{ cite book | last=Lockwood | first=William Burley | author-link=William Burley Lockwood | date=1993 | orig-date=1984 | title=The Oxford Dictionary of British Bird Names | edition=2nd | location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-866196-2 | page=34 }}

The brambling is similar in size and shape to a common chaffinch. Breeding-plumaged male bramblings are very distinctive, with a black head, dark upperparts, orange breast and white belly. Females and younger birds are less distinct, and more similar in appearance to some chaffinches. In all plumages, however, bramblings differs from chaffinches in a number of features:

• the brambling has a white rump, whereas that of the common chaffinch is grey-green;
• the breast is orange, contrasting with a white belly, on the brambling, whereas on the common chaffinch, the underparts are more uniformly coloured (pink or buff);
• the brambling's scapular feathers are orange, whereas the common chaffinch's are grey or grey-brown;
• the flanks are dark-spotted on the brambling, plain on the common chaffinch;
• bramblings lack the white outer tail feathers of common chaffinches.

An additional difference for all plumages except breeding-plumaged males is the bill colour - yellow in the brambling, dull pinkish in the common chaffinch (breeding-plumaged male bramblings have black bills, common chaffinches in the corresponding plumage have grey bills).{{cite book |last1 = Mullarney |first1 = Killian |last2=Svensson |first2=Lars |last3=Zetterstrom |first3=Dan |last4=Grant |first4=Peter |title=Collins Bird Guide |year=1999 |location=London |publisher =HarperCollins |isbn = 0-00-219728-6}}

Measurements:

• Length: 16 cm{{Cite web|last=Oiseaux.net|title=Pinson du Nord - Fringilla montifringilla - Brambling|url=https://www.oiseaux.net/birds/brambling.html|access-date=2020-09-29|website=www.oiseaux.net|language=en}}
• Weight: 23–29 g
• Wingspan: 25–26 cm{{Cite web|title=Brambling Bird Facts {{!}} Fringilla Montifringilla|url=https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/brambling/|access-date=2020-09-29|website=The RSPB|language=en-GB}}

File:Fringilla_montifringilla_2_(Marek_Szczepanek).jpg

This bird is widespread, in the breeding season, throughout the forests of northern Europe and east across the Palearctic. It is migratory, wintering in southern Europe, North Africa, northern India, northern Pakistan, China, and Japan. It frequently strays into Alaska during migration and there are scattered records across the northern United States and southern Canada.{{cite web |url=https://ebird.org/map/brambl?neg=true&env.minX=&env.minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh=false&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=all&byr=1900&eyr=2020 |title=eBird Brambling Species Map |publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology |access-date=December 20, 2020 }} The global population of bramblings is about 100 to 200 million, with a decreasing trend.

Open coniferous or birch woodland is favoured for breeding.

This species is almost entirely migratory. In Europe, it forms large flocks in the winter, sometimes with thousands or even millions of birds in a single flock.{{cite journal | last1 = Jenni | first1 = L. | year = 1987 | title = Mass concentrations of Bramblings Fringilla montifringilla in Europe 1900–1983: their dependence upon beech mast and the effect of snow-cover. | journal = Ornis Scandinavica | volume = 18 | issue = 2 | pages = 84–94 | doi = 10.2307/3676843 | jstor = 3676843 }}{{cite journal | last=Svensson | first= T. | year = 2021 | title=A review of mass concentrations of Bramblings Fringilla montifringilla: implications for assessment of large numbers of birds | journal = Ornis Svecica | volume = 31 | pages = 44–67 | doi = 10.34080/os.v31.22031 | arxiv = 2010.08465 }} Such large gatherings occur especially if beech mast is abundant. Bramblings do not require beech mast in the winter, but winter flocks of bramblings will move until they find it. This may be an adaptation to avoid competition with the common chaffinch.{{Cite book |last= Newton |first= Ian |title= Finches |series= The New Naturalist Library 55 |publisher= Taplinger |year= 1973 |location= New York |pages=26–30 |isbn= 0-8008-2720-1}}

File:Fringilla montifringilla - Kajaani Finlande 222.jpg]]

Bramblings first breed when they are one year old. The nest is usually placed high in a tree against the trunk. It is built by the female and consists of an outer layer which may contain lichen, grass, heather, cobwebs and strips of bark from birch or juniper trees. It is lined with feathers, soft grass and hair. The eggs are laid at daily intervals. The clutch usually contains 5–7 eggs. They range from light blue to dark olive-brown and have pink to rusty red spots and blotches. On average they measure {{cvt|19.4|x|14.5|mm}} and have a calculated weight of {{cvt|2.14|g}}. Starting after the last egg has been laid, they are incubated by the female and hatch after 11–12 days. The young are fed and cared for by both parents and fledge after 13–14 days. Often only one brood is raised each year but two broods can be raised in northwest Russia.{{sfn|Cramp|1994|p=494}}

The nests can be predated by the carrion crow (Corvus corone) and the Siberian jay (Perisoreus infaustus). The nest are often parasitized by the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus).{{sfn|Cramp|1994|p=494}}

Bramblings mostly eat seeds in winter, but insects in summer.{{cite web|title=RSPB: Brambling|url=https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/brambling|access-date=7 January 2019}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{ cite book | editor1-last=Cramp | editor1-first=Stanley | display-editors=etal | editor1-link=Stanley Cramp | year=1994 | chapter=Fringilla montifringilla Brambling | title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic | volume=8: Crows to Finches | location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | pages=479–497 | isbn=978-0-19-854679-5 }}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Fringilla montifringilla}}

• [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/brambling-fringilla-montifringilla Internet Bird Collection: Brambling]
• [http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Fringilla-montifringilla Audio recordings from Xeno-canto]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20010123205500/http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/19600300.htm Stamps]}} Belgium, China, Taiwan

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Category:Fringilla

Category:Birds of Asia

Category:Birds of Europe

Category:Birds described in 1758

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus