Each winter the big freeze consumes northern Europe and our island’s mild maritime climate provides a refuge and a lifeline to birds whose regular food sources lie buried under snow and ice. Blackbirds, bramblings, bitterns, starlings, sanderlings, smew and many other species head here to survive. But this year the winter visitor everyone is hoping to see is the hawfinch.
You probably won’t be familiar with the hawfinch so I’ll give you a few key identification features… aw, forget it. Just look at that massive beak! You can’t miss it. It’s like someone crossbred a chaffinch with a puffin. I’m amazed it can stand up – you’d half expect that ridiculous beak to send it tottering face-first to the floor. This pair of monstrous mandibles combined with powerful jaw muscles can exert a whopping 150 pounds per square inch of pressure and are designed to crack its favoured food; fruit stones and seeds. You know how horrible it is when you bite down on an olive and find there’s a stone inside? Hawfinches would shatter that stone without batting an eyelid.

This winter Britain seems to have been the holiday destination for hungry hordes of hawfinches. There’s an estimated 14 times as many here than usual. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime invasion – the result of a successful breeding year for continental hawfinches followed by a drastic shortage of food; an equation that sends them flocking across Europe in search of seeds and stones.

We have a few pairs of resident hawfinches breeding in Sussex but we don’t know exactly how many because, despite being a bulky-billed bird of bulky build, it is famously hard to observe. Back in 1938 Sussex ornithologist Walpole-Bond remarked that the hawfinch was 'the very incarnation of all that is wary and shy' and commented on their propensity to roam far and wide. ‘Inclined to vagabondage’ as he put it. A wonderful phrase even though these days it sounds like something you’d read on a Tinder dating profile.

Sadly for one winter wanderer his travels would end in Sussex. I recently received a call from a lady who reported a hawfinch had collided with her patio window. Considering that powerful beak, I was surprised that the window wasn’t the victim here, but sadly the bird dropped dead. It was tenderly wrapped and laid to rest alongside some fish-fingers, its journey to escape the big freeze ending in a big freezer. I was asked if I had any use for a frozen hawfinch. Plans for creating a novelty nutcracker or a tin-opener sprung to mind but this hawfinch has not died in vain. His body will be donated to science and will contribute to current research into the diet and movements of these birds. His death hopefully aiding the conservation of his big-beaked brothers in the future.

By Michael Blencowe of the Sussex Wildlife Trust

Hawfinch © credit Roger Wilmshurst

Sussex Wildlife Trust is an independent registered charity caring for wildlife and habitats throughout Sussex. Founded in 1961, we have worked with local people for over half a century to make Sussex richer in wildlife.
We rely on the support of our members to help protect our rich natural heritage. Please consider supporting our work. As a member you will be invited to join Michael Blencowe on our regular wildlife walks and also enjoy free events, discounts on wildlife courses, Wildlife magazine and our guide book, Discovering Wildlife in Sussex. It’s easy to join online at www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/join or T: 01273 497532.