In a contest, a row of small cages, each housing a single male finch, is lined up approximately six feet apart along a street.

Every time a bird sings a correct terminating flourish to their call—most often transcribed as susk-e-wiet—a tally mark in chalk is made on a long wooden stick.

[1] The earliest known records of vinkeniers are from 1596 (with some sources advocating a slightly earlier 1593 origin) with Flemish merchants competing.

Techniques to develop singing aptitude include selective breeding programs, high-protein diets, and stimulating them with music and recordings of bird song.

As wild finches generally begin singing during the spring mating season, keepers may also use artificial lights placed in aviaries to encourage increased song.

[1] After one contestant sang exactly the same number of calls in three rounds, the box was opened and a mini CD player was discovered within.

[1] Thomas Hardy—the celebrated English author and poet who was also an antivivisectionist and member of the RSPCA—is said to have written his poem "The Blinded Bird" as a protest against the practice.

[8] In 1920, a campaign by blind World War I veterans banned the practice, and today the birds are kept in small wooden boxes that let air in but keep distractions out.