Serin

Short Description

The serin is yellow with brownish streaks on its upper parts. A striking feature is its brilliant yellow rump. The small, rather plump bird has a short conical bill and a forked tail.

Females are paler yellow and also streaked on their chests.

Features

Serin

Serinus serinus

plump with yellow plumage

Gesang

Conrads (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Similar species

Yellowhammer

Emberiza citrinella

Yellowhammers are bigger with a more powerful bill.

Eurasian siskin

Spinus spinus

Male siskins are olive-green and stand out for the contrasty black and yellow colouring of their wings. Their tail feathers are blackish-brown with broad yellow patches on the sides. The yellow rump is less clearly delineated.

In the city

The serin is a synanthropic bird and frequently found near human settlement areas. It lives in open spaces such as gardens, parks and cemeteries as well as industrial wastelands. Males sing their songs from high song posts and often use power lines for that purpose. However, the serin avoids densely built-up areas such as city centres.

Fun Facts

The indigenous serin used to be kept as a pet because of its beautiful song. It was later replaced by the canary, as the latter was easier to breed in large numbers.
Serins are migratory birds that move to southwestern Europe from October to March. Urban birds increasingly hibernate in Germany and accept food from bird feeders.
In Germany, the breeding population is declining. As seedeaters, serins suffer from the decline in allotments with fruit and vegetable cultivation.
Endangerment level Germany: not endangered

Sources

Weibchen, Charles J Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:European_serin_(Serinus_serinus)_female.jpg

Weibchen, Juan Emilio, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Verdecillo_(Serinus_serinus)_(8718764150).jpg

Männchen, Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Girlitz_Serinus_serinus.jpg

Bejcek, V. (1988) Zugvögel, Hanau/Main: Verlag Werner Dausien.

Makatsch, W. (1989) Wir bestimmen die Vögel Europas, Leipzig: Neumann Verlag.

Voigt, A. (2006) Exkursionsbuch zum Studium der Vogelstimmen, Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer Verlag.

Fiedler, W. (2015) Die Vögel Mitteleuropas sicher bestimmen - Schlüssel zur Art-, Alters- und Geschlechtsbestimmung, Wiebelsheim: Quelle & Meyer Verlag.

Harrison, C. (1975) Jungvögel, Eier und Nester aller Vögel Europas, Nordafrikas und des Mittleren Ostens - Ein Naturführer zur Fortpflanzungsbiologie, Hamburg und Berlin: Verlag Paul Parey.

Svensson, L. (2011) Der Kosmos Vogelführer - Alle Arten Europas, Nordafrikas und Vorderasiens, Stuttgart: Franckh Kosmos Verlag.

Page „Girlitz (Art)“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 26.09.2015, 21:59 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Girlitz_(Art)&oldid=146436501 (Accessed: 10.02.2016).

Artenfinder (2016) Serinus serinus (Girlitz), URL: https://arteninfo.net/elearning/voegel/speciesportrait/3164 (Accessed: 18.04.2016).

Witt, K. & Steiof, K. (2013) Rote Liste und Liste der Brutvögel von Berlin, 3. version, 15.11.2013. : Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V. (eds.) Berliner Ornithologischer Bericht, volume 23, Berlin: Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V., 1-23.

NABU – Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. (2016) Rote Liste der Brutvögel Deutschlands. 5. version, published August 2016, URL: https://www.nabu.de/tiere-und-pflanzen/voegel/artenschutz/rote-listen/10221.html (Accessed: 07.04.2017).

Sudfeldt, C., Dröschmeister, R., Flade, M., Grüneberg C., Mitschke, A., Schwarz, J. & Wahl, J. (2009) Vögel in Deutschland – 2009, Münster: DDA, BfN, LAG VSW, URL: https://www.dda-web.de/index.php?cat=pub&subcat=vid (Accessed: 10.02.2021).