Bullfinch Call MP3s
Soft, piping Pyrrhula pyrrhula calls for birders, researchers and orchard managers monitoring this bud-feeding finch.
Also known as
Recordings (4)
About this species
Around 16 cm in length, the Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) is a passerine songbird: the male unmistakable with a rose-pink breast, black cap and grey back. It keeps to woodland, orchards and tall hedgerows.
It gives a soft, piping, mournful 'dew' whistle that is easily overlooked. It strips buds, shoots and seeds, and is fond of soft fruit-tree blossom in spring. Quiet and unobtrusive, it moves in pairs through hedge and thicket, seldom drawing attention. On migration it moves through Greece and the Mediterranean in great numbers, a familiar bird of field, wood and garden.
Legal use
The Bullfinch is a protected wild bird under the general regime of the EU Birds Directive, and it is listed under Appendix III of the Bern Convention, which allows regulated exploitation rather than requiring strict protection — in practice, it is not licensed for general/recreational hunting in the countries we have checked. It does have a long history of conflict with fruit growers, since it feeds on the buds of orchard trees, and current UK and EU rules restrict lethal control of this species to cases covered by a specific licence, with non-lethal deterrence more commonly used in agricultural contexts. Treat this recording as intended for birding, identification and (where locally licensed) deterrence rather than as a general hunting call. Please check our full country-by-country disclaimer for the licensing position where you are.