Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes)

This chrome-beaked bird may look like a cyborg sent back from the future, but it is in fact a shy, heavy-billed finch. Coloured like the autumnal equinox, it dwells high in tree canopies and keeps safely out of sight. Although the Hawfinch’s numbers are bolstered during our colder months by European birds seeking warmer climes, the native Hawfinch is endangered and becoming increasingly rare. Preferring to inhabit only a handful of deciduous forests across the British Isles, these birds are increasingly threatened by the deforestation of ancient woodland species. They cannot adapt to change and if their woodland home is not protected and destroyed, they will only be occasional visitors and even harder to spot, and that would be an utter travesty.

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Taken from Matt’s new book ‘Save Our Birds: How to bring our favourite birds back from the brink of extinction’, to be published by Ebury on 24 June. Caught by the River copies of the book exclusively come with a Hawfinch postcard, signed by Matt. Additionally we will be donating 10% of sales from the book to Matt’s chosen charity, Back From The Brink. Preorder your copy of the book here (£12.00).