The true finches are passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. They are predominantly seed-eating songbirds.
Most are native to the Northern Hemisphere, but one subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics, one to the Hawaiian Islands, and one subfamily – monotypic at genus level – is found only in the Palaearctic.

Many birds in other families are also commonly called "finches", including some species in the very similar-looking waxbills
or estrildid finches, family Passeridae, subfamily Estrildinae, of the Old World tropics and Australia; several groups
of the bunting and American sparrow family, Emberizidae; and Darwin's finches of the Galapagos islands,
tanagers, Thraupidae.

Subfamily Fringillinae – Genus Fringilla, fringilline finches. Three species, which feed their young on insects and few if any seed Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, No. Bokfink Blue Chaffinch Fringilla teydea, No: Blåfink Brambling Fringilla montifringilla, No: Bjørkefink Subfamily Carduelinae – cardueline finches. A much larger group that contains several genera which feed their young mainly on seeds. This subfamily consists of several well-defined clades. Typical grosbeaks Genus Eophona – Oriental grosbeaks Genus Coccothraustes – Holarctic grosbeaks (polyphyletic?) Genus Mycerobas – Mycerobas grosbeaks American rosefinches Genus "Carpodacus" – House Finch, Cassin's Finch, and Purple Finch, Bullfinches Genus Pinicola – Pine Grosbeak, Genus Pyrrhula – bullfinches Orange Bullfinch, Pyrrhula aurantiaca (Range : Kashmir) Grey-headed Bullfinch, Pyrrhula erythaca (Range : Western China, Tibet) Red-headed Bullfinch, Pyrrhula erythrocephala (Range: Himalayas) White-cheeked Bullfinch, Pyrrhula leucogenis (Range : Philippines) Azores Bullfinch, Pyrrhula murina (Range : São Miguel Island, Azores) Brown Bullfinch, Pyrrhula nipalensis (Range : Himalayas, northern Myanmar and Northwest Yunnan) Common (Eurasian) Bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, No: Dompapp. (Range : very wide, from Asia to Europe) Grey (Baikal) Bullfinch, Pyrrhula cineracea (Range : Siberia, Far East) Ussuri (Oriental) Bullfinch, Pyrrhula griseiventris (Range : Far East) Arid-zone clade Genus Leucosticte – mountain finches Genus N.N. – Dark-breasted Rosefinch, "Carpodacus" nipalensis Genus Rhodopechys – Trumpeter Finch and relatives Asian rosefinches Genus Carpodacus – rosefinches (Genus in need of substantial revision. May consist of two or more genera; alternatively may include Haematospiza and Uragus) Genus Haematospiza – Scarlet Finch Genus Uragus – streaked rosefinches Goldfinch-canary-crossbill clade (Carduelis and Serinus are polyphyletic and are probably best regarded as a collection of independent sub-groups or genera.) Genus Serinus sensu lato – canaries, African seedeaters, serins and African siskins (Sub)Genus Serinus sensu stricto – European Serin and relatives (Sub)Genus Crithagra – Afrotropical canaries, African seedeaters, citrils Genus Linurgus – Oriole Finch (possibly basal to Crithagra) Genus Rhynchostruthus – golden-winged grosbeaks (tentatively placed here) Genus "Serinus" thibetanus – Tibetan Serin (probably related to Spinus and Serinus sensu stricto) Genus Carduelis sensu lato (Sub)Genus Carduelis sensu stricto – European Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis, No: Stillits Citril Finch, Carduelis citrinella - formerly Serinus citrinellus Corsican Finch, Carduelis corsicana - formerly Serinus corsicanus. (probably only distantly related to Spinus) (Sub)Genus Spinus – siskins and American goldfinches Spinus group - American goldfinches and siskins American goldfinches American Goldfinch, Carduelis tristis Lesser Goldfinch, Carduelis psaltria Lawrence's Goldfinch, Carduelis lawrencei Northern siskins Eurasian Siskin, or Spruce Siskin, Carduelis spinus Pine Siskin, Carduelis pinus Black-capped Siskin, Carduelis atriceps Antillean Siskin, Carduelis dominicensis Neotropical siskins Andean Siskin, Carduelis spinescens Black Siskin, Carduelis atrata Black-chinned Siskin, Carduelis barbata Black-headed Siskin, Carduelis notata Hooded Siskin, Carduelis magellanica     Santa Cruz Siskin, Carduelis (magellanica) santaecrucis Olivaceous Siskin, Carduelis olivacea Red Siskin, Carduelis cucullata Saffron Siskin, Carduelis siemiradzkii Thick-billed Siskin, Carduelis crassirostris Yellow-bellied Siskin, Carduelis xanthogastra Yellow-faced Siskin, Carduelis yarrellii Yellow-rumped Siskin, Carduelis uropygialis (Sub)Genus Linaria – linnets and twite (related to Spinus) Eurasian Linnet, Carduelis cannabina Warsangli Linnet, Carduelis johannis Yemen Linnet, Carduelis yemenensis Twite, Carduelis flavirostris (Sub)Genus Chloris – greenfinches and Desert Finch Black-headed Greenfinch, Carduelis ambigua European Greenfinch, Carduelis chloris, No: Grønnfink Oriental Greenfinch, Carduelis sinica Vietnam Greenfinch, Carduelis monguilloti Yellow-breasted Greenfinch, Carduelis spinoides The Desert Finch, Carduelis obsoleta, has recently turned out be a primitive form in this group (Zamora et al., 2006). (Sub)Genus Acanthis – redpolls (related to Loxia) Arctic Redpoll, or Hoary Redpoll, Carduelis hornemanni, No: Polarsisik Common Redpoll, or Mealy Redpoll, Carduelis flammea, No: Gråsisik    Carduelis flammea exilipes ·    Carduelis flammea flammea ·    Carduelis flammea holboellii ·    Carduelis flammea hornemanni ·    Carduelis flammea linaria ·    Carduelis flammea rostrata Lesser Redpoll, Carduelis cabaret No: Liten gråsisik (Sub)Genus Loxia – crossbills Parrot Crossbill, Loxia pytyopsittacus Scottish Crossbill, Loxia scotica Common Crossbill or Red Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra Two-barred Crossbill or White-winged crossbill, Loxia leucoptera Hispaniolan Crossbill, Loxia megaplaga Carduelinae incertae sedis Genus Pyrrhoplectes – Gold-naped Finch Genus Chaunoproctus – Bonin Grosbeak (extinct: 1830s) Genus Callacanthis – Spectacled Finch Genus Neospiza – Sao Tomé Grosbeak Subfamily Drepanidinae – Hawaiian honeycreepers. Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands; formerly often treated as a separate family. Some 10-12 living genera, about 7 recently extinct Subfamily Euphoniinae – Euphonious finches. Endemic to the Neotropics; formerly placed in Thraupidae. Genus Euphonia – euphonias Genus Chlorophonia – chlorophonias

Recent taxonomical changes

On December 18, 2009, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in its authority as custodian of the Clement's Checklist,
made the following statement: "In accord with NACC, here we split the genus Carduelis into four genera:
Carduelis (linnets and twites),
Spinus (siskins),
Acanthis (redpolls),
Chloris (greenfinches).

Similar revisions will need to be made with respect to Carpodacus and Serinus, but we defer making those changes until a later date.". This follows a similar change that was published in the 50th supplement to the AOU Checklist of American Birds, " The subgenera Acanthis and Spinus are elevated to genera, and the genus Chloris is split from the genus Carduelis."[4]