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The UK Bird Atlas

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)Where and when to see it in the UK

Resident · reporting peaks February to May · Finches, Euphonias, and Allies · BOU category AEF

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Chaffinch: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Chaffinch has been recorded in 2,850 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (96%) in records to 2026. Resident in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in February to May.

Conservation status: Not Evaluated (IUCN Red List, NE)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
57% or more of visits
High
38% to 57%
Moderate
22% to 38%
Low
under 22%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 84%37%Very high
February 91%40%Very high
March 100%44%Very high
April 99%43%Very high
May 94%41%Very high
June 83%37%Very high
July 51%22%Low
August 46%20%Low
September 52%23%Low
October 79%35%Very high
November 89%39%Very high
December 85%38%Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in February

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
C51Derry City and Strabane, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C62Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C72Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C81Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C92Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D04Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D23Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D40Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland100%Very high
G95Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H24Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.