| True Finches | ||||||||||
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 Evening Grosbeak | ||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
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Finches are seed-eating passerine birds, the many species of which are found chiefly in the northern hemisphere, but also to a limited extent in Africa and South America.
They are small to moderately large and have a strong beak, usually conical and in some species very large. All have 12 tail feathers and 9 primaries. These birds have a strong flight and most sing well. Nests are basket-shaped and built in trees.
There are two main subfamilies. The first, the Fringillinae, contains only three species, which feed their young insects rather than seeds:
- Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs
- Blue Chaffinch Fringilla teydea
- Brambling[?] Fringilla montifringilla
The much larger second group, the Carduelinae contains several genera which feed their young on seeds:
- Serinus, canaries, seedeaters[?] and some siskins[?]
- Carduelis, linnets[?], redpolls[?], goldfinches, greenfinches[?], some siskins.
- Carpodacus, rosefinches
- Loxia, crossbills
- Mycerobas, grosbeaks[?]
- Neospiza, Sao Tomé Grosbeak[?]
- Linurgus, Oriole Finch[?]
- Rhynchostruthus, Golden-winged Grosbeak[?]
- Leucosticte, mountain finches[?]
- Calacanthis, Red-browed Finch[?]
- Rhodopechys, trumpeter finches[?]
- Uragus, Long-tailed Rosefinch[?]
- Urocynchramus, Przewalski's Rosefinch[?]
- Pinicola, pine grosbeaks[?]
- Haematospiza, Scarlet Finch[?]
- Neospiza, Sao Tomé Grosbeak[?]
- Pyrrhula, bullfinches
- Coccothraustes, Hawfinch[?]
- Eophona, oriental grosbeaks[?]
- Hesperiphona, evening grosbeaks[?]
- Pyrrhoplectes, Gold-naped Finch[?]
There are many other birds in other groups which are called finches, notably the very similar-looking Estrilids or waxbills[?], which occur in the Old World tropics and Australia.
Some of the closely related sparrows are also named as "finches", as are some buntings.