European siskin
| Eurasian siskin | |
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| Male | |
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| Female
Birds recorded in Surrey, England
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Fringillidae |
| Genus: | Spinus |
| Species: | S. spinus |
| Binomial name | |
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Spinus spinus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Range of the Eurasian siskin Summer Resident Winter |
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| Synonyms | |
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Carduelis spinus |
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Carduelis spinus
The Eurasian siskin (Spinus spinus) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is also called the European siskin, common siskin or just siskin. Other (archaic) names include black-headed goldfinch,barley bird and aberdevine. It is very common throughout Europe and Asia. It is found in forested areas, both coniferous and mixed woodland where it feeds on seeds of all kinds, especially of alder and conifers.
It can be distinguished from other similar finches by the color of the plumage. The upper parts are greyish green and the under parts grey-streaked white. Its wings are black with a conspicuous yellow wing bar, and the tail is black with yellow sides. The male has a mainly yellow face and breast, with a neat black cap. Female and young birds have a greyish green head and no cap. It is a trusting, sociable and active bird. The song of this bird is a pleasant mix of twitters and trills. For these reasons it is often raised in captivity.
These birds have an unusual migration pattern as every few years in winter they migrate southwards in large numbers. The reasons for this behaviour are not known but may be related to climatic factors and above all the availability of food. In this way overwintering populations can thrive where food is abundant. This small finch is an acrobatic feeder, often hanging upside-down like a tit. It will visit garden bird feeding stations.
The siskin was first was described by Linnaeus in 1758 as Fringilla spinus, in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae. In 1760, Brisson described the genus Carduelis, where this species was then placed. Recent taxonomic studies suggest placing it in the genus Spinus.
The scientific name Spinus is from the Ancient Greek spinos, a name for a now-unidentifiable bird. The English name is from German dialect sisschen or zeischen,
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Wikipedia