A European goldfinch perched among rosehips in snow

© Ernie Janes/Nature Picture Library/Offse

Red in the face. A bird with beauty and charm

Sporting a splash of red on its face and flashes of yellow along its wings, the European goldfinch is a pretty little bird that stands out from the avian crowd. So it might not come as a surprise to know that the collective noun for these birds is a 'charm', which describes their delightful twittering song. As well as its good looks, another notable feature of the European goldfinch is its sharp-pointed beak, which allows this species to extract seeds from teasels. The goldfinch braving the cold in our photo was snapped in the UK, but at this time of the year, many British goldfinches will migrate as far south as Spain to enjoy a bit of winter sun.