‘Pink!’ The nine vocalisation vocabulary of the Chaffinch
There’s a Chaffinch shouting ‘Pink!’ at me. That’s where finches got their name; from their call of ‘Fink’ or ‘Pink’.
![Chaffinch - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Stover-The-Hall-of-Einar-1427-725x483.jpg)
They have nine different vocalisations in their vocabulary:
- A flight call
- A social or aggressive call
- An injury call
- Three courtship calls
- Three alarm calls
You can listen to them all here in a British Library article.
![Chaffinch - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Stover-The-Hall-of-Einar-1448-725x483.jpg)
I’ve increased my powers of observation over the past two years by photographing birds.
![Chaffinch - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Stover-The-Hall-of-Einar-1447-725x483.jpg)
Now I need to really concentrate and listen so that I can identify more species from the sounds they make.
![Chaffinch - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Stover-The-Hall-of-Einar-1421-725x483.jpg)
After hearing all the sounds they make, I’ll never listen to a Chaffinch in the same way again.
![Chaffinch - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Stover-The-Hall-of-Einar-1419-725x483.jpg)
Will you?