Saturday 6 June 2015

European Serin (Serinus serinus)

OTHER NAMES: Serin
Latin Etymology: Serinus ("serin/canary") serinus ("serin/canary")
                                           Adult male European Serin (Serinus serinusat El Retiro, Madrid, Spain - June 2015

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 8.5-14g  /  Length: 11-12cm  /  Wingspan: 20-23cm
UK AMBER LIST / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The vibrant colours might give it away, but this species is a close relation of the Canary.  It is found widely throughout almost all of Europe, although it is largely absent from Scandinavia and the British Isles, favouring more of a Mediterranean habitat.  In Spain it is fairly common resident found in a variety of habitats up to and including inner-city parks.  I saw a good number across the holiday, but how readily I could get views of them depended very much on where they were - urban birds being less shy than rural.  Prior to seeing them in Spain, I did look for this species in the UK as it is a rare breeding species and vagrant, but failed to locate them each time.

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Genus: Serinus
Subspecies: None - monotypic

 - Sighting Locations -
ITALY - Italian - Verzellino
A resident
 - SICILY 2018 TRIP -  A few at Aci Castello.
SPAIN - Spanish - Verdecillo ("Greenish")
Common to locally abundant resident
 - MADRID 2015 TRIP: Common at various locations including El Retiro and Patones
 - MADRID 2016 TRIP: Fairly common throughout, particularly noted at El Pardo

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red ListRSPBWikipedia, Xeno-canto

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