Bullfinch or Chaffinch?

These two get mixed up constantly. Here is what actually separates them, taken from each bird's own page.

Illustration of a bullfinch

Bullfinch

Pyrrhula pyrrhula

A male chaffinch has a pinkish breast too, but also bold white shoulder patches and a white wing bar, a blue-grey crown rather than a black cap, and a greenish rump. A bullfinch has no wing bar, a solid black cap and a pure white rump. Chaffinches also feed openly on lawns; bullfinches stay in cover.

Illustration of a chaffinch

Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebs

A male bullfinch's breast is a deep, saturated rose-pink with a hard edge to it, and he wears a solid black cap. A male chaffinch's pink is softer and dustier and his crown is blue-grey, not black.

Side by side

BullfinchChaffinch
Size A little larger and much heavier-built than a robin — thick-necked, round-bodied, with a stubby bill. Robin-sized but longer and slimmer, about 14-15cm, with a noticeably long tail.
Where you'll see it Inside hedges and large shrubs and along woodland edge; occasionally on sunflower hearts, always close to cover. On the ground under feeders and along hedge bottoms far more often than on the feeder itself.
What it eats Seeds of ash, nettle, dock and bramble; tree and shrub buds in late winter and spring; some insects for the young. Seeds year-round, with caterpillars and other insects taken through the breeding season and fed to chicks.
When Resident all year. Most conspicuous in late winter and early spring when feeding on buds. Resident all year. Numbers swell from October as continental birds arrive to winter here.
Status Amber listed Green listed

Still not sure? Describe what you saw and we will rank every garden bird against it — including these two.

Both descriptions are taken from the species pages, which cite the BTO and RSPB. Reviewed 2026-09-20.