Carduelis carduelis
Carduelis carduelis
The European goldfinch is widely distributed across temperate latitudes and Mediterranean ecosystems of the western and central Palearctic (BirdLife International, 2024), being absent only from the northernmost parts of Europe and Russia (Keller et al., 2020). It breeds throughout Spain, including the Canary and Balearic Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla (Alambiaga and Monrós in SEO/BirdLife, 2022).
It occurs throughout the Community of Madrid except in high mountain areas. It occupies thinned forest environments and riparian woods, where it reaches its highest abundances, as well as ash groves (Díaz et al., 1994).
It is not a common species in the park, due to the limited extent of its suitable habitats. Observations have been recorded in the eastern part of the park, where dense pine forests give way to tree-covered areas with grasslands, shrublands, and riparian woods in the southern and eastern areas of La Pedriza.
The goldfinch occupies a wide variety of habitats during the breeding season, including human-modified environments such as tree crops, vineyards, peri-urban areas and urban parks, agroforestry mosaics, farmlands, and grasslands (Carrascal and Palomino, 2008). Its breeding activity also occurs in dehesa holm oak forests, cork oak forests, riparian forests, wetlands, and shrublands.
In the park, its highest abundances are recorded in low-altitude wooded areas, including riparian woods and mixed or open forested zones.
At the global scale, it is considered in the Least Concern category (LC; 2019). In Europe, it would also be classified in the same category (LC; 2021). In Spain, it is considered in the Least Concern category in the 2021 Red List.
The Catalogue of Threatened Species of the Community of Madrid (1992) does not consider the species in any threat category.
BirdLife International 2024. IUCN Red List for birds. https://datazone.birdlife.org.
Carrascal, L. M., Escandell, V. y Del Moral, J. C. 2023. Evolución de las poblaciones de las aves comunes por hábitat en la España peninsular. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Carrascal, L. M., Palomino, D. y Polo, V. 2008. Patrones de distribución, abundancia y riqueza de especies de la avifauna terrestre de la isla de La Palma (Islas Canarias). Graellsia, 64: 209-232.
Díaz, M., Martí, R., Gómez-Manzaneque, Á. y Sánchez, A. 1994. Atlas de las aves nidificantes en Madrid. Agencia de Medio Ambiente y SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Antón, M., Klvaňová, A., Kalyakin, M. V. Bauer, H. Gr y Foppen, R. P. B. 2020. European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Birds Census Council y Lynx Edicions. Barcelona.
SEO/BirdLife (Molina, B., Nebreda, A., Muñoz, A. R., Seoane, J., Real, R., Bustamante, J. y Del Moral, J. C., eds.). 2022. III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.