Outdoor Ontario
Birding Reports => Toronto Reports => Topic started by: BirdMarymoor on December 23, 2010, 08:44:10 PM
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Today just after noon, my family was walking the pond trails at the north end of the Evergreen Brick Yards in the Don Valley of Toronto. At the far northwest end there was a little bit of open water at the base of the slope, and among the Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, and American Goldfinch was a Chaffinch.
I've seen Chaffinch many times in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, so identification was not difficult (though I suppose world-wide there may be a sister species that I don't know about).
The bird was not as brightly colored as some, but was better marked than a drab female. The crown was gray, all the way down to a wide gray collar. The face was a warm brown. The breast was kind of pinky orange. The wings had the very obvious white slash. The bird was making the Pink Pink call.
I have no idea about the provenance of this bird. Are Chaffinch kept as pets or in zoos? I suppose it's vaguely possible that a bird could come across from Europe on its own...
Anyway, hopefully someone else can track it down. We watched it for a minute or two before it made its way south along the west edge of the area and disappeared.
= Michael Hobbs, Kirkland, WA (visiting my parents in Toronto)
= BirdMarymoor at frontier dotcom
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I've seen chaffinch for sale at a pet store here in Mississauga, so most likely an escape. Still a cool sighting!
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Well, I figured that was the most likely explanation...
= Michael