Chaffinch or House Sparrow?
These two get mixed up constantly. Here is what actually separates them, taken from each bird's own page.
Chaffinch
Fringilla coelebs
A female chaffinch and a female house sparrow are both brown, but only the chaffinch has two crisp white wing bars and white in the tail. The sparrow's bill is thick and blunt, the chaffinch's is finer and more conical, and sparrows are almost never alone while chaffinches often are.
House Sparrow
Passer domesticus
Side by side
| Chaffinch | House Sparrow | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Robin-sized but longer and slimmer, about 14-15cm, with a noticeably long tail. | Robin-sized at 14–15cm, but chunkier, flatter-headed and thicker-billed |
| Where you'll see it | On the ground under feeders and along hedge bottoms far more often than on the feeder itself. | Feeders, dense hedges, gutters and roof eaves — rarely far from a building |
| What it eats | Seeds year-round, with caterpillars and other insects taken through the breeding season and fed to chicks. | Seeds and grain all year; adults switch to insects to feed chicks |
| When | Resident all year. Numbers swell from October as continental birds arrive to winter here. | Resident, all twelve months |
| Status | Green listed | Red 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.