Nature Watch, with Ron Freethy

LAST week I briefly mentioned how birds moult.

This takes place in August and once it has happened some birds begin to gather in flocks.

These include the chaffinch, which is one of our most beautiful little birds but, because it is so shy during the breeding season, we do not realise how common it is.

In August, after the moult, it seems to change its character.

It gathers in flocks and often begs for food from people picnicking close to car parks.

In the old days, huge flocks used to gather in the fields after the crops had been cut. The chaffinch searched for seeds left behind after the harvest.

This accounts for its name of "chaff finch."

The chaffinch was also once seen around farms during threshing.

At this time seeds and chaff were spread everywhere.

To stop this "dust" getting into the house a stone step was built to keep the place clean.

We still use the word threshold.

This is just what this step did - it held the threshings.

Other old names for the chaffinch were "spink" and "bachelor" finch.

The word spink describes the sound made by the chaffinch when it is worried or annoyed.

The bachelor finch refers to the fact that, when it migrates, males and females usually move in separate flocks.

The Swedish scientist Karl Lunnaeus in the 18th century named the species Fringilla coelebs.

Coelebs in Swedish means a bachelor.

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