One of the most colourful of British birds, this highly coloured finch has a bright red face, white cheeks, black crown, white rump and a tawny brown body with bright yellow wing bars on black wings. Both sexes are similar but the young lack the red, white, and black head and the wing bars are pale brown on black wings. They feed on thistle, teasel and dandelion seeds with their long fine beaks and also take insects during the summer. They can be seen anywhere with scattered trees, bushes and areas of tall weeds. They will visit gardens if you provide a seed feeder especially liking Black sunflower seeds, Sunflower Hearts and Niger seed.