Its large numbers and huge range mean that chaffinches are classed as of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The Eurasian chaffinch was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name, Fringilla coelebs.

[4] Chaffinches were likely given this name because after farmers thresh their crops, these birds sometimes spend weeks picking through heaps of discarded chaff for grain.

[5][6] The English naturalist William Turner described the Eurasian chaffinch in his book on birds Avium praecipuarum, published in 1544.

[11] A number of subspecies of the Eurasian chaffinch have been described, based principally on the differences in the pattern and colour of the adult male plumage.

[13] The authors of a 2009 molecular phylogenetic study on the three subspecies that were recognised on the Canary Islands concluded that they are sufficiently distinct in both genotype and phenotype to be considered as separate species within the genus Fringilla.

The authors formerly described the Gran Canaria variety as a subspecies and coined the trinomial name Fringilla coelebs bakeri.

[16] The adult male of the nominate subspecies has a black forehead and a blue-grey crown, nape and upper mantle.

[17] After the autumn moult, the tips of the new feathers have a buff fringe that adds a brown cast to the coloured plumage.

The ends of the feathers wear away over the winter so that by the spring breeding season the underlying brighter colours are displayed.

[22][23] The acquisition by the young Eurasian chaffinch of its song was the subject of an influential study by British ethologist William Thorpe.

He also found that in adult Eurasian chaffinches, castration eliminates the song, but injection of testosterone induces such birds to sing even in November, when they are normally silent.

[26] The breeding range includes most of Europe and extends eastwards across temperate Asia to the Angara River and the southern end of Lake Baikal in Siberia.

In New Zealand, the Eurasian chaffinch had colonised both the North and South Islands by 1900 and is now one of the most widespread and common passerine species.

[32] The chicks are altricial, hatching nearly naked with closed eyes, and are fed by both parents but mainly by the female, who broods them for around six days.

[39] The young are entirely fed with invertebrates which include caterpillars, aphids, earwigs, spiders and grubs (the larvae of beetles).

Clutches begun later in the spring suffer less predation, an effect that is believed to be due to the increased vegetation making nests more difficult to find.

The spread of the disease is believed to have been mediated by Eurasian chaffinches, as large numbers of the birds breed in northern Europe and winter in Great Britain.

[45] Eurasian chaffinches can develop tumors on their feet and legs caused by the Fringilla coelebs papillomavirus.

[46][47] The size of the papillomas range from a small nodule on a digit to a large growth involving both the foot and the leg.

[48] The Eurasian chaffinch was once popular as a caged songbird and large numbers of wild birds were trapped and sold.

[50] In 1882, the English publisher Samuel Orchart Beeton issued a guide on the care of caged birds and included the recommendation: "To parents and guardians plagued with a morose and sulky boy, my advice is, buy him a chaffinch.

"[49] Competitions were held where bets were placed on which caged common chaffinch would repeat its song the greatest number of times.

In Belgium, the traditional sport of vinkenzetting pits male Eurasian chaffinches against one another in a contest for the most bird calls in an hour.