Linnet Carduelis cannabina

The linnet is a slim finch with a forked tail. Males are brown with grey heads; they have attractive raspberry-red foreheads and breasts, and white-edged black tail feathers. The females are a mottled brown and lack any bright colouring. The females can be confused with twite or redpoll, however the twite is only a scarce winter visitor to coastal Norfolk and the redpoll is nowadays a very scarce Norfolk resident.

They have a distinctive “twittering” flight call. They are seed eaters so their diet consists of grass, cereal grains and wildflower seeds.
 

Linnets are widespread UK residents except in small parts of North West Scotland. In Norfolk they are not uncommon birds in their preferred habitats of heaths and commons, especially near the coast and in breckland where there is a good provision of scrub, gorse or thick hedgerows. In winter they can be found in flocks in fields and coastal marshes where they unobtrusively hunt for small seeds. Sometimes they can be seen in parks and gardens. A good place to see linnets is the NWT reserve at Weeting Heath.

Linnets are UK residents they are present all year round so can be seen anywhere where there is patches of scrub.

RSPB
British Trust for Ornithology

 

A UK biodiversity action plan is currently being implemented for Norfolk; this will give advice to farmers encouraging them to provide adequate field margins, rotational set aside and retention of winter stubbles.

If you are lucky enough to have a hedgerow containing native species in your garden, it is best only cut every other year, this is because some species only flower on their second year growth. A bushy hedgerow will provide the linnet with a suitable nesting habitat. Hedge trimming should not take place within the breeding season (March-September).