Hawfinch:

It is scientifically known as Coccothraustes coccothraustes and falls into the category of passerine birds. The hawfinch is a member of the Fringillidae family. The bird is also known as European Grosbeak for the sheer resemblance with that of the hooded grosbeak. The bird is found across European and Asian geographies. The major numbers are seen in Europe, but lot of them keep migrating during colder temperatures to avoid the cold. The bird has been also recorded to be present around western Alaska, which is a rare sighting.
The bird has a small size, ranging from 16.5 to 18 cm in length with quite a bulky looking head, and also referred to as having a bull-head. Since the head looks huge, the bird appears to have a small tail. The top parts of the body are a characteristic brownish colour and the under parts of the body, would have orange tones to it. The wings have white colour bars. There are also tail tip and these white bars, are quite visible during its flight and can help identify the bird. There are no differences in the looks of male and female birds, with both having similar appearance. The calling of the bird is a hard sound of ‘chick’. The wingspan of this bird is around 29 to 33 cms and can weigh up to 62 grams.
These birds tend to prefer the deciduous trees or woodlands, with mixed type of trees for their living and as per the statistics; hornbeam is one of the most favourites of their breeding trees. The bird has a tendency to build nests in small bushes which are around these trees. They can give up to seven eggs at a time and lay them into the nest. The incubation period of these birds would range from 9 to 14 days and are carried out by female bird. They tend to start breeding during the late April month and the following season. The eggs of these birds are glossy and smooth in texture, with light bluish & greyish green tones on those. There have also been little blackish marks spotted on their eggs. The feeding of the young ones is carried out by both male & female birds.
The bird prefers eating seeds and other related items like fruit kernels and cherries. The bird has a quite strong beak with which it can break those seeds and kernels for its food. These birds though do not have a tendency of making flocks and flying around. They prefer roaming around in small groups or pairs around trees and only during their breeding season, can they be seen in a much bigger group.
The bird is quite shy in nature and remains on high guard and is sensitive to movements around it. The bird normally spends most of its time, on the top of the tree, while hiding around in bushes and can move quite quickly between those trees. It makes it quite hard to actually observe the bird. The birds have been known to have started declining in their numbers, but their shy nature and ability to hide makes the count even more difficult to assure.