Bullfinches
Pyrrhula
Pyrrhula is a small genus of passerine birds, commonly called bullfinches, belonging to the finch family (Fringillidae). The genus has a Palearctic distribution; almost all species occur in Asia, with two species exclusively in the Himalayas and one species, P. pyrrhula, also occurring in Europe. The Azores bullfinch (P. murina) is a critically endangered species (about 120 pairs remaining), occurring only in the east of the island of São Miguel in the Azores archipelago.
The evolution of the bullfinch species started soon after the pine grosbeak's ancestors diverged from them (at the end of the Middle Miocene, about 12 mya), and it is quite possible that the latter species evolved in North America; what is fairly certain is that the bullfinch radiation started in the general area of the Himalayas. The mountain finches also seem to be part of this clade.
8 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 8 known species
Eurasian Bullfinch
speciesPyrrhula pyrrhula
Brown Bullfinch
speciesPyrrhula nipalensis
Gray-headed Bullfinch
speciesPyrrhula erythaca
Taiwan Bullfinch
speciesPyrrhula owstoni
Red-headed Bullfinch
speciesPyrrhula erythrocephala
Azores Bullfinch
speciesPyrrhula murina
Orange Bullfinch
speciesPyrrhula aurantiaca
White-cheeked Bullfinch
speciesPyrrhula leucogenis
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the old herbals & bestiaries
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Pyrrhula in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 9459.