Hawfinches (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) from https://animalia.bio/hawfinch

Dear Readers, the Hawfinch is a mighty seed-cracker of a bird – just look at that beak! A Hawfinch can crack a cherry stone without breaking a sweat (though I suspect that birds don’t actually sweat).  The Hawfinch’s Latin name means ‘ seed-shatterer’, which seems particularly apt when you consider that its beak can deliver a crushing force more than a thousand times greater than its own weight (Birds Britannica by Mark Cocker and Richard Mabey).

It is the only species in its genus, and its closest relatives are birds such as North America’s Evening Grosbeak. It is also a bird that I should be keeping an eye open for – it loves mature, deciduous woodland, and in particular hornbeam trees, so I need to take my binoculars to Coldfall Wood at my earliest convenience. This is, however, a very shy bird with regard to humans – it can sometimes be seen flittering about in the finest, highest twigs, but only comes to the ground to drink or look for seeds. The bird nests at the very tops of trees (average nest height above the ground is 16 metres), and the male builds the nest, most unusual in finches. My Crossley Guide describes the flight of the Hawfinch as appearing to be  ‘out of control’ so you would think that the bird would not be that difficult to spot, especially as the population increases three-fold in the winter as migrants make the trip south from Scandinavia to the UK.

However, the Hawfinch is a rare breeder in the UK, and becoming rarer for reasons that don’t seem clear – the nests are predated by the usual suspects (magpies, crows, jays) but not to any increased extent, and for once squirrels don’t seem to be involved, maybe because the bird nests on such fine branches.  So, the jury is out on why the bird has declined so much – the current breeding population is probably less than 500 pairs in the whole of the UK. I suspect that because it has such particular requirements (mature woodland, big trees) habitat degradation/loss is likely to be at least one factor.

The Hawfinch male has a complicated breeding display which he performs for the female, involving hops and bows and a little kiss at the end. There’s a little snippet of the performance here Why all the film makers insist on slapping on a merry tune as well I have no idea, but it’s still charming.

And in case you want to hear what a Hawfinch actually sounds like, here’s one recorded in Norway by Elias A. Ryberg.

So, do keep your eyes peeled for a big-beaked finch at the top of a tree during any woodland walks this month. Who knows, you might get lucky!