The beauty that’s bullied for eating buds
THE Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) was known in medieval times as the bull spink, later bull fynch, often shortened to bull or bully. “Bully” is still a common name in northern England. Yet far from being bullish by nature, the bullfinch is docile compared with many other finches, and will feed communally at fruiting and seeding locations. Nevertheless, in captivity males have been known to fight to the death. To prevent neighbourhood disputes, pairs in flights are often separated by solid partitions.
Experiences differ, but usually when breeding they cannot be trusted in mixed-species flights. In the wild, they rarely exhibit territorial behaviour and when caged male bullfinches have been placed near wild bullfinch
