Common rosefinch male perching

© Arterra Picture Library/Alamy

Common rosefinch male perching

The common rosefinch really is quite common, with its population distributed widely across Western Europe and Asia. To see the specimens that earned the bird its colourful name, make sure you’re looking for the male. He’s the one with the bright red cap, face and chest. There are rare sightings of the common rosefinch in the eastern reaches of Great Britain and even rarer sightings on the far western coast of Alaska—the bird’s only appearance in the Western Hemisphere.