# Hawfinch

*Coccothraustes coccothraustes*

The Hawfinch's jaw muscles and massive bill can exert a crushing force equivalent to approximately 45 kg (100 lbs), which is easily enough to shatter a rock-hard cherry stone.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Fringillidae › Coccothraustes
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** forest
- **Habitat:** Deciduous and mixed forests, mature parks, and orchards with large, seed-bearing trees like beech, hornbeam, and cherry.
- **Diet:** Hard seeds, especially cherry stones, plum stones, beechmast, and hornbeam seeds, supplemented with caterpillars and insects in spring.
- **Range:** Europe, North Africa, Temperate Asia, Japan
- **Size:** Length: 16.5-18 cm (6.5-7 inches); Wingspan: 29-33 cm (11-13 inches); Weight: 46-57 grams.
- **Lifespan:** Typically 3 to 5 years in the wild, though some individuals have lived up to 12 years.
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat loss through the removal of mature deciduous woodlands, fragmentation of breeding territories, and loss of ancient orchards.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. Hawfinches are shy, canopy-dwelling birds and highly unlikely to approach humans. Observe them quietly from a distance using binoculars. If handling an injured bird, wear thick gloves; their massive bills can exert a crushing force of over 100 pounds per square inch and deliver a very painful pinch.

## About

The hawfinch ( Coccothraustes coccothraustes ) is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. Its closest living relatives are the evening grosbeak ( Hesperiphona vespertinus ) from North America and the hooded grosbeak ( Hesperiphona abeillei ) from Central America especially Mexico.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/a635d75d-459c-4ab6-8b23-3162583a2042
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/9801
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccothraustes coccothraustes
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/187021691/medium.jpg (egorbirder, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.