Common Linnet

Summer male L. c. cannabina
Photo by Andy Bright
Suffolk, U.K.

Alternative name: Eurasian Linnet

Linaria cannabina

Carduelis cannabina

Identification

Female
Photo by the late Jim Wood
East Lothian, Scotland

13–14 cm (5-5½ in) It is a slim bird with a long tail

• Brown mantle and back
• Off-white throat
• Grey bill
• Silvery edge to primaries
  

Adult breeding Male

• Red breast
• Red forehead
• Grey nape
  

Winter males, females and young birds lack the red, having streaked breasts and buffy underparts.

Distribution

Juvenile
Photo by Cristian Mihai
Ciocanu (AG), Romania, July 2016

Widespread and generally common over much of the region. Breeds throughout the British Isles and from western France and Iberia east to the Urals reaching north to southern Norway, southern and eastern Sweden and central and southern Finland. In the south occurs on Madeira and the Canary Islands, northwest Africa and most larger Mediterranean islands, Greece, Turkey and the Caucasus and the Middle East.

Northern and eastern birds are migratory, leaving breeding areas in September-October to winter chiefly within range of southern breeders and along coast of North Africa, returning in late March-April, those elsewhere partial migrants or resident.

Vagrants recorded north to Iceland and Lapland and south-east to Kuwait.

Taxonomy

Subspecies L.c. autochthona
Photo © by Macswede
Ardmore Point, Helensburgh, Scotland, 10 August 2010

Subspecies

There are 7 subspecies^[1]:

• L. c. autochthona:

• Scotland

• L. c. cannabina:

• Europe to western Siberia, Crimean Peninsula and North Africa

• L. c. mediterranea:

• Iberian Peninsula and North Africa to Asia Minor

• L. c. bella: paler above with very pale rump and pale grey crown and nape in male.

• Asia Minor to Caucasus, Afghanistan, south-western China; winters to India

• L. c. nana:

• Madeira

• L. c. meadewaldoi:

• Tenerife (western Canary Islands)

• L. c. harterti: paler above and whiter on flanks

• Lanzarote (eastern Canary Islands)

L. c. nana is not recognised by all authorities^[2]

Habitat

Open habitats with low shrubs and scattered trees, often on moorland and heathland, along woodland edges, hedgerows and orchards, sometimes in large gardens. The southeastern subspecies L. c. bella occurs on rocky and scrub-covered mountain slopes.

In winter forms large flocks often with other finches and feeds on stubble fields and other cultivated areas, along shorelines and on waste ground.

Behaviour

During the winter can form large flocks mixed with other finches, including Twite.

Diet

Its food mainly consists of seeds.

Vocalisation

Song: a musical twitter.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition ISBN 0 00 219900 9

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Common Linnet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 22 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Common_Linnet

External Links

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