Trumpeter Finch

• The only European populations of this species are in Spain, and very little is known about their dynamics.
• Its name comes from its song: a strident note of metallic timbre reminiscent of a toy trumpet, quite unlike the song of any other bird.
• Its recent spread northwards along the Mediterranean coast is put down to climate change creating new arid environments that suit it.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Open, desert and semi-desert country of warm, dry climate: arid areas on rocky soils, steppe, ravines and even inhabited places. It nests in small holes in cliffs and along the sides of ravines

Birth weight

Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent

Size at birth

Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent

Sexual maturity

1 year

Gestation / incubation

About two weeks. The chicks leave the nest two weeks after hatching

Litter / clutch size

4-6 eggs in spring

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; SEO/BirdLife (ficha y III Atlas: Barrientos 2022); Lista Roja Europea de Aves 2021; Carrillo 2007 (tesis doctoral, Universidad de Almería); Pérez-Contreras y Fernández-Ordóñez 2006, Acta Granatense 4; Ruiz y López 2015, Quercus 354; López-Iborra et al. 2006; Oiseaux.net; Lichtenstein 1823

Best time: Spring, when the males take on their orange plumage and sing; it is resident but very mobile outside the breeding season

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.