European Serin
Serinus serinus
Tiny with very small, stubby bill. Both sexes are heavily streaked, with yellow rumps. Males have a bright yellow face and breast; this is gray-brown in females. Common in parks, gardens, cities, agricultural areas,and forest edges. Often sings from electricity wires, posts, TV antennas, and the tops of trees. Frantically fast song is often delivered in arcing song flight with "slow motion" wingbeats. Feeds on seeds and sometimes invertebrates.
Identification
The European serin is a small short-tailed bird, 11–12 cm in length. The upper parts are dark-streaked greyish green, with a yellow rump. The yellow breast and white belly are also heavily streaked. The male has a brighter yellow face and breast, yellow wing bars and yellow tail sides. The song of this bird is a buzzing trill, very familiar in Mediterranean countries.<p>It breeds across southern and central Europe and North Africa. Southern and Atlantic coast populations are largely resident, but the northern breeders migrate further south in Europe for the winter. Open woodland and cultivation, often with some conifers, is favoured for breeding. It builds its nest in a shrub or tree, laying 3–5 eggs. It forms flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with other finches.<p>The food is mainly seeds, and, in the breeding season, insects. This small serin is an active and often conspicuous bird.
Taxonomy
The European serin was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla serinus. The Latin serinus comes from the French word serin for a canary. The French word may be a corruption of the Latin word citrinus meaning "lemon-coloured".
- Scientific name
- Serinus serinus
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Serinus
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL, AF : temperate to subtropical w Palearctic in woods, gardens, scrub: n France to far s Scandinavia and to n Estonia and far w Russia; s to Iberian Pen., Tenerife and Gran Canaria (c Canary Is., Macaronesia, w of n Africa) and Morocco to w Libya (nw, nc Africa) through Mediterranean to Turkey and Cyprus
- Non-breeding range
- short- to mid-distance migration
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Solitary Snipe
Gallinago solitaria
A barrel-chested snipe with a dark brown back and frosty-pale face and belly. Breeds in far northern bogs and near streams, where it may even winter if water remains open; the only snipe likely to be seen in this kind of habitat in the colder months. Also winters along rocky streams and artificial canals with flowing water. Much darker and more silvery-gray in coloration than other snipe species, which are a paler brown overall. Flies straight and powerfully; does not zigzag in flight like Common Snipe and Pin-tailed Snipe.
Asian Brown Flycatcher
Muscicapa dauurica
Plain brown flycatcher with a large-eyed appearance. Note bright white eyering and unmarked throat and underparts. Appears shorter- and plainer-winged than other similar brownish flycatchers. Favors broadleaf forests; also found in more open habitats on migration and wintering grounds. Sallies from exposed perches; cocks tail and flicks wings when perched. Song comprises high buzzy trilling and whistles. Calls include dry rattling and chittering.
Scaly-naped Pigeon
Patagioenas squamosa
A large dark pigeon of forests with a proclivity for perching high in trees while still not in clear view. Found throughout a variety of forested habitats at most elevations, generally most common in intact primary lowland and montane forest, but can be seen along a variety of forest edge and secondary forest types. Dark-slate gray body differs from the Plain Pigeon, which is distinctly paler, and it lacks the white crown of White-crowned Pigeon. It is somewhat skittish in most areas, perhaps due to hunting and is often first detected by a loud flapping of wings as it takes flight or by its low-pitched “wooo hooo” and “wudu-hoo hoooooo” songs.
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