CHAFFINCH

(Fringilla coelebs), songbird of the family Fringillidae (order Passeriformes) that breeds in gardens and farmlands of Europe and northern Africa to central Asia (and, by introduction, South Africa). It is the commonest finch in western Europe. The 15-centimetre (6-inch) male is bluish crowned, with rust-brown back, greenish rump, and pinkish to rust face and breast; the female is greenish brown. The Canary Islands, or blue, chaffinch (F. teydea) is similar.