Latin name - Carduelis cannabina

The Linnet was a popular cage bird in Victorian Britain with its attractive appearance and melodious song. The male is more colourful than the female with a blue-grey head, crimson forehead and breast, brown upper-parts and white under-parts. It is at its brightest in summer, in winter they have a much duller plumage. The female is much duller and does not have any crimson; both sexes have white wing flashes. Young are similar to the female but paler. You can see this small finch throughout the United Kingdom especially on farmland, areas of scrub, heath and in gardens. It feeds on seeds and insects and with intensive agriculture its numbers are rapidly declining and it is on the RSPB's red list.