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24

European Serin

(Serinus serinus)
Alternate name(s): "Serin"
German name(s): "Girlitz"

Size: 11-12 cm; wing span 20-23 cm
Weight: 8-14 g

Similar
species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See European Serin at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

ADULT

MALE

Full-frontal view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Eltville, Hessen, Germany, April 2021]

Frontal view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, July 2018]

Frontal view of a male European Serin issuing its call (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Ribeira das Enguis, Alcochete, Setubal, Portugal, March 2020]

Frontal view of a male European Serin looking down (photo courtesy of M. Thomas)
[Eltville, Hessen, Germany, March 2019]

Near-frontal view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Eltville, Hessen, Germany, April 2021]

Near-frontal view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2015]

Near-frontal view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, June 2018]

Near-frontal view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Near-frontal/ventral view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, July 2016]

Near-frontal view of a male European Serin, here seen preening (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, July 2016]

Male European Serin shaking out its plumage after preening; note how the bright-yellow breast is now less obvious, while one can see clearly the characteristic feathers on the sides/flanks with the prominent black-on-white striation sticking out
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, July 2016]

Near-lateral view of a male European Serin; this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 8 June 2018
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, June 2018]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a male European Serin issuing its call (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, near Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2019]

Lateral view of a male European Serin; this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 8 June 2018
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, June 2018]

Lateral view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2015]

Lateral/ventral view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2016]

Near-dorsal view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, June 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, November 2017]

Dorsal view of a male European Serin (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Eltville, Hessen, Germany, April 2021]

Dorsal view of a male European Serin on the ground (photo courtesy of M. Thomas)
[Eltville, Hessen, Germany, March 2019]

Male Common Linnet, right, in comparison with a male European Serin; note that the Common Linnet, although small, is a bit bigger than the European Serin (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, July 2016]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female European Serin (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, June 2018]

Close-up near-frontal view of a female European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2014]

Lateral view of a female European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2019]

Lateral view of a female European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, December 2017]

Lateral view of a female European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, November 2020]

Lateral view of a female European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, November 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a female European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Evora, Portugal, February 2020]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a juvenile European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Near-frontal view of a juvenile European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Near-lateral view of a juvenile European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Lateral view of a juvenile European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Dorsal view of a juvenile European Serin (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Dorsal view of two juvenile European Serins (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Distant view of European Serins with all three types of different plumages: male, top, female, front left, and juvenile, lower right (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Near Soller, Mallorca, Spain, January 2018]

Behaviour

Like all finches known to us, European Serins are gregarious, and they like to take a bath (together) regularly.

Clan of European Serins "in the bathtub" (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2014]

The photo below shows a bonding ritual between male and female.

Male European Serin, left, feeding his partner (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Ribeira das Enguis, Alcochete, Setubal, Portugal, March 2020]

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a male European Serin with food (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, February 2020]

Male European Serin with a seed stuck to its bill (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Moita do Ribatejo, Tejo estuary, Portugal, March 2019]

Male European Serin feeding on seeds (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, November 2018]

Lateral view of a female European Serin with food (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Evora, Portugal, February 2020]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

serin_jp_20230113_2.mp3 (Portugal) Territorial call (male) © JP
serin_jp_20230113.mp3 (Portugal) Territorial calls (male) © JP
serin_dw_20200716.m4a (Poland) Territorial calls (male) © DW
serin_dw_20180529.m4a (Poland) Territorial calls (male) © DW
serin_dw_20180608.m4a (Poland) Territorial calls (male) © DW
serin_dw_20200604.m4a (Poland) Territorial calls (male) © DW
serin_jp_20200412.m4a (Portugal) Territorial calls (male)
(+ Common Chaffinch)
© JP

More European Serin sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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