"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
In article , Franz Heymann
writes

"martin" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 10:55:21 GMT, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:

The message
from martin contains these words:

I think they are goldfinches my wife thinks they are green finches.
I am sure we called them yellow hammers, when I was a kid.

To narrow it down a bit they have no green feathers, the coloured
feathers are yellow.

The green on a greenfinch is a very, very dull green. The yellow flash
on
the sied is quite conspicuous.
Have a nother look. I opt for greenfinch.

I think the siskins and serins mentioned by Rusty Hionge arte a lot less
likely to visit a bird table.

They are becoming more likely to visit bird tables, in mixed flocks.
Much more likely to be thought of as 'yellowhammers' than greenfinches.

Siskins are 'bird shaped', greenfinches are rather long and thin.
Goldfinches aren't obviously yellow - the yellow flash on the wings
shows when they fly, but sitting down the most obvious is the red on the
head.

Yellowhammers are IIRC decreasing in frequency, and I've only ever seen
them singly.

I have not heard or seen yellowhammer for fifteen years or more, and I have
only ever seen serins in Switzerland and France.

Franz