The collective noun for Finches is a Charm, but for Goldfinches they can be called a Charm or a Tremble.

At this time of the year you will see goldfinches in small flocks and their flight is undulating as they search for dead thistle heads and teasel to feed on, in fact their song is a murmur and their flight is like a tremble, we associate goldfinches with teasel as they are the only finch that has a beak able to reach into the teasel to get the seeds.

Most of our Goldfinches will have moved to Southern Europe for the Winter but there are still quite a few about this time of the year around about 100,000 birds compares to over 300,000 breeding pairs in the Spring and Summer.

European goldfinches are brightly coloured birds with a bright red faces and yellow wing patches,  are about 12–13 cm long and will weigh 14 to 19 grams. many were kept in captivity for their song and colour, in fact one of my earliest memories as a child was seeing a goldfinch in a cage in Ireland outside a cottage, it did make me sad then and still does now.

But I am always happy to see them in my garden feeding on the nyger seed I hang out for them a charm more than a tremble I think.

Goldfinch brightens up a Winter’s day