Brambling

Fringilla montifringilla

Winters in flocks of literal millions. The greatest courier swarm in Europe.

Population: Very large; BirdLife/IUCN 2024 assessment estimates roughly 35-65 million mature individuals globally, though other secondary sources (e.g. Wikipedia) cite much higher figures of 100-200 million total individuals (all age classes); population trend decreasing but slowly, not approaching Vulnerable thresholds
Habitat: Breeds in open coniferous and birch/mixed woodland, including scrub at the tundra edge; winters in deciduous woodland (especially beech and hornbeam) and open farmland/stubble fields
Fun fact: Bramblings can form some of the largest bird flocks on Earth, with winter roosts in beech forests occasionally estimated at millions of birds when mast crops are abundant.
Range: Breeds across the northern Palearctic from Scandinavia to eastern Siberia (breeding range ~20.9 million km²); winters south into southern/central Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, northern India/Pakistan, China, Korea, and Japan (non-breeding range ~54.5 million km²), with rare vagrants reaching Alaska and elsewhere in North America
Diet: Seeds (notably beech mast) and other plant material in autumn/winter; shifts to insects and other invertebrates during the breeding season, especially to feed nestlings
Size: 0.16 m
Wingspan: 0.26 m
Lifespan: 8 years

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