British Isles Goldfinch

A subspecies of the Goldfinch: the Elegant Goldfinch
Latin name: Carduelis carduelis britannica

Description:

Many thanks to my friend Bill DOHERTY for his photograph of the British subspecies of the goldfinch. As can easily be seen, one of the main characteristics of this subspecies is the increased brown pheomelanin in the white areas of the plumage. The edges of the red mask, which are white in the nominate form, are heavily mottled with brown in the britannicus subspecies. There is also a high density of brown on the breast. The British goldfinch is smaller than the common goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis carduelis). I had the opportunity to breed the brown mutation in this subspecies a few years ago, and the results were particularly striking.

Gallery