Geographic Range
Bramblings are widely distributed throughout the Palearctic region. Breeding distribution
is throughout Fennoscandia, the Baltic States, and Russia. There is at least one record
of a breeding pair in North America on Attu Island, Alaska. The winter range extends
from western Europe throughout Eurasia, as far west as Japan.
- Biogeographic Regions
- palearctic
Habitat
Bramblings breed in subalpine birch and willow forests, boreal forests, and birch
scrub. They appear to feed in shrubby habitat and on the ground in the early breeding
season, but almost exclusively feed in trees in less shrubby habitat throughout the
rest of the year. Bramblings are found in beech forests and agricultural fields in
the winter. During this time, they may become nomadic in their search for a productive
beech mast. Suitable wintering habitat is limited by snow cover, because they rely
on seeds foraged from the ground. To prevent heat loss and conserve energy, bramblings
leave their foraging sites to roost in more sheltered micro-habitats, such as coniferous
tree stands situated at altitudes with minimum wind exposure.
- Habitat Regions
- temperate
- terrestrial
- Terrestrial Biomes
- taiga
- forest
- scrub forest
- Other Habitat Features
- agricultural
Physical Description
Bramblings are medium-sized finches with long wings and tail. They have black tails
and white rumps. The wings are mostly black, but the median and lesser secondary coverts
are orange, which gives the bird a distinct appearance. Their bellies are white and
the flanks have rows of black speckles. Adult males have orange throats throughout
the year, while adult females have lightly colored grayish orange throats. On adult
breeding males the bill is black while the head varies from mottled gray to completely
black. The backs of breeding males are solid black. In non-breeding males, the head
is mottled gray, the bill is yellow, and the back is mottled black, orange, and gray.
Female bramblings have gray heads and yellow bills throughout the year. The feathers
on their backs are gray with orange/brown tips, which give the back a scaled appearance.
In flight, bramblings appear long-winged and have relatively long tails.
- Other Physical Features
- endothermic
- homoiothermic
- bilateral symmetry
- Sexual Dimorphism
- sexes colored or patterned differently
Reproduction
Shortly after arriving on the breeding grounds, bramblings begin broadcasting for mating partners in small groups. Females seem to select mates based on song and physical characteristics rather than nest site selection. For this reason brambling are not breeding site tenacious, and appear to maintain some of their nomadic behavior during the breeding season.
- Mating System
- monogamous
Male bramblings appear on their breeding grounds in late April and early May. After
mating occurs, the nest site is selected by the pair, and the two defend the nesting
territory. Territorial males attack intruder males that are in their breeding territory
and females attack any intruder near the nest site. They build cup-shaped nests, primarily
in the low forks of birch and spruce trees. Nests are made up of grass, hair, birch
bark, and moss. Females lay 5 to 7 oval, blue eggs with reddish markings. Incubation
lasts 11 to 12 days and the young remain in the nest for up to two weeks. They produce
1 to 2 broods per breeding season. Bramblings have also been shown to be effective
in protecting their nests against nest parasites, like common cuckoos (
Cuculus canorus
), by rejecting eggs that are not similar to their own eggs.
- Key Reproductive Features
- iteroparous
- seasonal breeding
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
- oviparous
Male and female bramblings defend nesting territories and their young during the breeding season.
- Parental Investment
- altricial
- male parental care
- female parental care
-
pre-fertilization
- provisioning
-
protecting
- female
-
pre-hatching/birth
-
provisioning
- female
-
protecting
- male
- female
-
provisioning
-
pre-weaning/fledging
-
provisioning
- male
- female
-
protecting
- male
- female
-
provisioning
Lifespan/Longevity
Bramblings have been recorded living up to 14.8 years in the wild.
Behavior
Bramblings are highly nomadic in the winter and retain some of their nomadism during
the breeding season. Males banded on their breeding grounds have been recaptured as
far as 600 km from the banding site the next breeding season. Small groups are established
during breeding season, and nests are even near each other in sub-alpine birch forests.
There is evidence of male aggression at breeding sites and pairs defend nesting territory.
Foraging behavior varies from gleaning insects in trees and bushes to picking seeds
off of the ground.
Home Range
Home range size of bramblings is not reported in the literature, they are nomadic, so home range sizes may not be relevant.
Communication and Perception
Bramblings communicate vocally to establish breeding territory and attract mates.
Males use a song to attract potential mates. Social chatter is used by roosting birds
and call notes are used in flight. These vocalizations can be found at
xeno-canto
.
Lohmus and Silverin (1999) suggested that some breeding males, especially those with
lighter colored heads, might use female mimicry to increase mating success and to
avoid aggressive interactions with other males. Bramblings are likely sensitive to
ultra-violet (UV) light and may use visual cues in the UV spectrum to identify and
reject eggs laid by nest parasites.
Food Habits
During the winter, bramblings roosts can be as large as 20 million birds. Bramblings
rely on beech mast in most of their range and densities are highest where beech mast
is the greatest. They are also known to feed on seed in large agricultural fields
in other parts of their range. During the breeding season, nomadism has been correlated
to the abundance of the larva of
Epirrita autumnata
, a geometrid moth. These moths are an important food source for nestlings and juveniles.
Bramblings will eat other seeds and insects as well.
- Primary Diet
- omnivore
- Animal Foods
- insects
- Plant Foods
- seeds, grains, and nuts
Predation
Bramblings are likely preyed on by aerial predators, such as small hawks and falcons.
Ecosystem Roles
Winter roosts can reach population sizes of several million birds. They scan large
areas for suitable beech mast crops. Because they gather in such large numbers, they
presumably play an important role as seed predators at foraging sites. Breeding bramblings
may also be important predators of
geometrid
moth larvae. During migration they are preyed upon by several species of predatory
birds. Common cuckoos are nest parasites of bramblings, although bramblings seem to
be able to detect and reject their eggs.
- common cuckoos ( Cuculus canorus )
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Direct benefits of bramblings have not been described, although they do enrich the lives of bird-watchers, naturalists, and wildlife enthusiasts. Their predation on moth larvae and insects may positively impact agriculture and silviculture.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
Bramblings have no known negative impacts on human economies.
Conservation Status
Bramblings are common throughout most of their range. There is an estimated 13,000,000
to 22,000,000 breeding pairs in Europe alone and the breeding range extends as far
as the Aleutian Islands. Bramblings are not considered threatened because of their
large population size and large geographic range.
Additional Links
Contributors
David Essian (author), Northern Michigan University, Alec Lindsay (editor), Northern Michigan University, Tanya Dewey (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
- Palearctic
-
living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- temperate
-
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
- terrestrial
-
Living on the ground.
- taiga
-
Coniferous or boreal forest, located in a band across northern North America, Europe, and Asia. This terrestrial biome also occurs at high elevations. Long, cold winters and short, wet summers. Few species of trees are present; these are primarily conifers that grow in dense stands with little undergrowth. Some deciduous trees also may be present.
- forest
-
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
- scrub forest
-
scrub forests develop in areas that experience dry seasons.
- agricultural
-
living in landscapes dominated by human agriculture.
- endothermic
-
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
- monogamous
-
Having one mate at a time.
- iteroparous
-
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
- seasonal breeding
-
breeding is confined to a particular season
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- oviparous
-
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
- altricial
-
young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.
- male parental care
-
parental care is carried out by males
- female parental care
-
parental care is carried out by females
- diurnal
-
- active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- nomadic
-
generally wanders from place to place, usually within a well-defined range.
- migratory
-
makes seasonal movements between breeding and wintering grounds
- territorial
-
defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement
- social
-
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
- colonial
-
used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- omnivore
-
an animal that mainly eats all kinds of things, including plants and animals
References
Alsop III, F. 2006. Smithsonian Birds of North America . East Rutherford, New Jersey: DK Publishing.
AnAge, 2014. "Fringilla montifringilla" (On-line). An Age: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Data. Accessed January 28, 2014 at http://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Fringilla_montifringilla .
Angell-Jacobsen, B. 1980. Overlap in feeding between willow warbler Phylloscopus trochilus and brambling Fringilla montifringilla in two forest habitats in Western Norway. Ornis Scandinavica , 11: 146-154.
Avil, J., A. Moller. 2004. How is host egg mimicry maintained in the cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus )?. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 82: 57-68.
Butchart, S., J. Eckstrom. 2013. "BirdLife International" (On-line). Accessed May 01, 2013 at http://www.birdlife.org .
Flint, V., R. Boehme, Y. Kostin, A. Kuznetsov. 1984. A field guide to birds of the USSR. . Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Jenni, L. 1987. Mass concentrations of Bramblings Fringilla montifringilla in Europe 1900-1983: Their dependence upon beech mast and the effect of snow cover. Ornis Scandinavica , 18: 84-94.
Jenni, L. 1991. Microclimate of roost sites selected by wintering Bramblings Fringilla montifringilla . Ornis Scandinavica , 22: 327-334.
Lindstrom, A. 1987. Breeding nomadism and site tenacity in the Brambling Fringilla montifringilla . Ornis Fennoscandia , 64: 50-56.
Lindstrom, A. 1990. The role of predation risk in stopover habitat selection in migratory Bramblings, Fringilla montifringilla . Behavioral Ecology , 1: 102-106.
Lohmus, M., B. Silverin. 1999. Male aggressiveness and the possible occurence of group territoriality in the Brambling Fringilla montifringilla . Ornis Scandinavica , 9: 75-82.
Mikkonen, A. 1983. Breeding site tenacity of the chaffinch Fringilla coelebs and the brambling F. montifringilla in Northern Finland. Ornis Scandinavica , 14: 36-47.
Pforr, M., A. Limbrunner. 1982. The breeding birds of Europe II . London, England: Croom Helm.
Sibley, D. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds . New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Svensson, L., K. Mullarney, D. Zetterstrom. 2009. Birds of Europe: Second Edition . Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Sykes Jr., P., D. Sonneborn. 1998. First breeding records of whooper swans and brambling in North America at Attu Island, Alaska. The Condor , 100: 162-164.
Vikan, J., B. Stokke, J. Rutila, E. Huhta, A. Moksnes, R. Eivin. 2010. Evolution of defences against cuckoo ( Cuculus canorous ) parasitism in bramblings ( Fringilla montifringilla ): A comparison of four populations in Fennoscandia. Evolutionary Ecology , 24: 1141-1157.