Snapped todayt Any idea what this bird is

[placemate]

Hi
This is my first post. I snapped and filmed this bird in my garden today and cannot find it in my books. is it an accidental!

It is strikingly orange in general.

I hope I'm doing this right!

[Muggsy]

good one .. looks like a goldfinch mule

[Hedera]

A finch, maybe Hawfinch, young one?

[RoyW]

I think that Muggsy is spot on with Goldfinch mule (a cross between Goldfinch and Canary bred by cage bird enthusiasts).
The other possibility is a Goldfinch x Greenfinch hybrid (another one from breeders), which can look very similar.

[solus]

Not a Hawfinch - or any other native species for that matter!
A cagebird of some sort - as Muggsy says, one of those cross-breeds: it'll have escaped from someone's aviary collection.

[placemate]

Thanks
It most probably is a mule. I have lots of goldfinch about so it must be flocking with them thiugh I have onle seen it on the seed hopper and not on the niger.

[~T~]

It certainly seems to have goldfinch or maybe siskin markings. Would all crosses be escapees? Do they ever hybridise in the wild?

[Muggsy]

Originally Posted by ~T~

Do they ever hybridise in the wild?

I will leave that to someone else, personally, I don't believe they do.
As I am not alone with my id, I'll go a bit further and say "goldfinch x Norwich Canary" it looks young in a couple of the shots, otherwise I may have been tempted to say hen mule, released as it didn't sing like a cock version would.

[~T~]

Originally Posted by Muggsy

I will leave that to someone else, personally, I don't believe they do.
As I am not alone with my id, I'll go a bit further and say "goldfinch x Norwich Canary" it looks young in a couple of the shots, otherwise I may have been tempted to say hen mule, released as it didn't sing like a cock version would.

Ahh that would make sense if it was of no use. I know some animals do hybridise in the wild but it's not very common unless something like fish which mass spawn (roach,rudd,bream in particular).

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by Muggsy

As I am not alone with my id, I'll go a bit further and say "goldfinch x Norwich Canary" it looks young in a couple of the shots, otherwise I may have been tempted to say hen mule, released as it didn't sing like a cock version would.

"Norwich" Canary is the breed that is typically used for mules (apparently the colours end up 'cleaner'). I would have thought that this is an adult (young Goldfinches lack the red face), but it may be one hatched last year. The idea that it could have been released because it is a female sounds feasible.


Goldfinch x Greenfinch hybrids have been thought to occur in the wild, but without searching for details I don't know if there is any undisputable evidence of this - wild hybrids of many other species are known to occur, and well documented, though.