pink is a whole personality. you'll hear me before you see me.
Bullfinch says
Bird 5 of 30 · video, 10:51
Bullfinch
Pyrrhula pyrrhula
A shy flash of pink, grey and white with a black cap, heard from a hedge far more often than seen.
- Small, 22.5 g
- Stays all year
- Hedge or shrub
- In a hedge or shrub
About the bullfinch
Marks and dots
Tap a numbered dot, or a name in the list.
A distinctive black cap.
Stunning pink on the breast.
Grey on the back, with white as the third colour.
Her colouring is far more muted than the male's.
From egg to adult
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Egg
Eggsup to 5 eggs video, BTO agrees
Hatch after14 days video, BTO agrees
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Chick in the nest
In the nest forabout 14 days video, BTO agrees
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Young bird
The video does not describe young bullfinches.
Adult
Pink, grey and white, black cap
Broods a year2 broods video, BTO agrees
BTO averages: 14 days incubating the eggs, then 16 days in the nest. Averages across nest records, so the figures above can differ a little.
At the table
- buds on fruit trees
Bullfinches nibble the buds on fruit trees. The video says their ability to decimate buds has done little to win over farmers and gardeners, and they are sometimes treated as pests.
Through the year
Bullfinch: around Jan to Dec; first eggs laid 29 Apr to 21 Jul, average 17 May (BTO); first chicks leave the nest 28 May to 22 Aug (worked out from BTO).
What to know about the bullfinch
Eight short notes in our own words. Each chip says what the note stands on, and links to its row in the table below.
What to look for
A male is stunning: pink, grey and white, with a distinctive black cap.
The young
The video does not describe young bullfinches.
not in the video
Song and call
A mellow, fluting call that you are more likely to hear from a hedge than to see the bird that makes it.
Nest
A platform of twigs holding a neat cup of rootlets, well hidden deep in a bush. Bullfinches pair for life.
Feeding
Bullfinches nibble the buds on fruit trees. The video says their ability to decimate buds has done little to win over farmers and gardeners, and they are sometimes treated as pests.
Staying or leaving
Rather a stay-at-home bird, seldom moving more than a few kilometres when it is not raising young. BTO calls it a fairly sedentary resident.
In the garden
Shy and secretive, so many watchers only ever see a flash of colour vanishing into a thicket. That is part of the thrill.
Sources and checks
Where every fact about the bullfinch came from
16 claims about the bullfinch: 7 checked, 7 from the video only,0 differ, 2 from a source only. How the grades work
| Claim, in our words | Video time | Grade | What the source says |
|---|---|---|---|
| A male bullfinch has a pink breast and a black cap, and the female's colouring is far more muted. | 10:51 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO describes a bright pink breast and neck and a black cap on the male, and the female as duller. |
| The male's colouring is pink, grey and white. | 10:54 | video only | |
| Bullfinches nibble the buds of fruit trees. | 11:08 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO says bullfinches visit garden fruit trees in spring to nibble the buds. |
| Their habit of decimating fruit-tree buds has done little to endear them to farmers and gardeners, who sometimes treat them as pests. | 11:08 | video only | |
| Bullfinches are shy, secretive birds. | 11:02 | video only | |
| You are more likely to hear the mellow, fluting call from a hedge than to see the bird. | 11:18 | video only | |
| Bullfinches pair for life. | 11:37 | video only | |
| Two clutches a year.video: 2 broods | 11:37 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 2 broods (3 exceptionally) (BTO typical)inside BTO's typical range of 2 |
| Each clutch is up to five eggs.video: up to 5 eggs | 11:40 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 4–5 eggs (BTO typical)up to 5 sits between BTO's typical top (5) and the most BTO records (8) |
| The nest is a platform of twigs holding a neat cup of rootlets, well hidden in a bush. | 11:42 | video only | |
| Chicks hatch after two weeks.video: 14 days | 11:49 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 14–16 days (BTO typical)inside BTO's typical range of 14–16 |
| A young bullfinch fledges about a fortnight later.video: about 14 days | 11:53 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 15–16.5 days (BTO typical)the narrator said 'about'; 10% either side (12.6–15.4) reaches BTO's typical 15–16.5 |
| The bullfinch is rather sedentary. | 11:57 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO calls it a fairly sedentary resident. |
| It rarely moves beyond a few kilometres when it is not raising young. | 12:05 | video only | |
| Adult weight, from ringing records: 22.5 g, adult average. | source only | source only | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 22.5 g, adult average |
| Timing of the first clutch: first eggs laid around 17 May (29 Apr-21 Jul). | source only | source only | BTO, read 2026-10-05: first eggs laid around 17 May (29 Apr-21 Jul) |
Written in our own words after “British Birds in your Garden” by The Great British Channel, where the bullfinch starts at 10:51.Numbers are checked against the BTO's page for the bullfinch, read on 5 October 2026. We are not connected to the channel or to the BTO.
More birbs: 30 so far, and more to come
The coins down the right of the screen are all 30. Tap one to go to that bird.