The Crusher

The shy and elusive hawfinch;  they live in the woodland canopy though in the winter it's easier to see them with the bare branches and with their numbers added to with the migrants from the continent or up north.

The beak on a hawfinch is designed for eating nuts and seeds and can bring a crushing force of 60-95 lbs which is useful if cracking open cherry stones, one of its favourite foods. Here in the Forest of Dean they just love the yew berries which they forage for under the trees which is where I got the shots. One Extra is a male being watchful before he drops to the floor to feed.

 It's Britains largest finch but is Red Listed since 2009 because of its breeding decline. I saw 3 ringed females and no males with rings with only 169 in total being ringed in 2023.