For some it might be the power of the peregrine, the gaudiness of goldfinches, or perhaps the distinctive red breast of a robin. For me, it was the grumpiness of greenfinches!  

We are going back a long, long way, but do you remember those red, plastic mesh bags, full of peanuts, which were meant for all our garden birds? Around our way, the tits and sparrows would give these a wide berth, because as soon as a greenfinch turned up, feathers would fly, literally, as this ‘larger-than-average’ finch would see off all comers, with a nasal hiss and a threatening flap of its wings.  It was one of these mini-dramas that first made me take notice of birds, and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Arguably, greenfinches are not much to look at, as they are mainly, well, green… but a closer inspection reveals that they are in fact many shades of said colour, with bright yellow in the wings, and very dark eyes, which just seems to add to their menacing appearance.  They are also not great songsters, with their monotonous twittering and wheezing, but they are a sound that always catches my attention when I am out and about. 

And for many years after that initial encounter, I almost took greenfinches for granted: there were big noisy flocks everywhere, and no garden bird feeding station was safe from these avian ‘Incredible Hulks’.   However, that all changed about 20 years ago when the species was struck down by a nasty respiratory disease called Trichomonosis.

Populations plummeted at this point, with local breeding populations declining by 20%, and in some areas, including where we live in the south of the county, it felt like they had become extinct, as we just never saw them at all in our garden or nearby hedgerows.  My theory, without any scientific evidence, is that this was when goldfinch populations significantly increased, as competition fell away, and there were now no green bullies to contend with at feeding sites. 

By 2021, greenfinch had been added to the UK ‘Red List’, which was a shock when you consider how common they were just a few years before and that it seemed such a robust species.  I had almost given up hope of seeing them in our garden again, so imagine my delight when for the first time in two decades, sat in the conservatory, I heard that familiar wheezing at the sunflower seeds, and a greenfinch appeared scaring off all-comers.  Within a few seconds, six more appeared, with a load more in the tree above, all looking healthy, and declaring their return with much wing flapping and hissing.  So hopefully, against all odds, their populations are starting to recover, and we can once again enjoy their antics in our gardens and countryside. 

Yes, goldfinches may be ‘charming’, but for me grumpy greenfinches win every time!