The Chaffinch is a rather small bird (ca. 15 cm), about the size of a house sparrow, but a bit more slender, and with a longer and forked tail. The male has intense colours, with brick-coloured cheeks, breast and underside, contrasting with the grey-blue "cap" and shoulders. Its back is brown-greenish and its wings black with a white stripe. In the female, the colours of the chest and underside are not as intense, and the cap and shoulders are of a more grey-brownish colour. In flight, the chaffinch can easily be distinguished by the white stripe on the wings and on the sides of the tail. Its beak is large and conical, it is used to crack open nuts and seeds. The female chaffinch can be easily mistaken for a female house sparrow, so careful observation is needed!