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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

Europe: Family Group 24 Family Group 24 Table White Wagtail Western Yellow Wagtail Grey Wagtail Tawny Pipit Berthelot's Pipit Red-throated Pipit Tree Pipit Meadow Pipit Water Pipit Eurasian Rock Pipit Greater Short-toed Lark Calandra Lark Woodlark Eurasian Skylark Bearded Reedling House Sparrow Tree Sparrow Spanish Sparrow Rock Sparrow Trumpeter Finch European Serin Atlantic Canary Red-fronted Serin Eurasian Siskin Common Redpoll Arctic Redpoll Common Linnet Brambling Common Chaffinch European Goldfinch Eurasian Bullfinch Hawfinch Common Crossbill Common Rosefinch Yellowhammer Cirl Bunting Common Reed Bunting Ortolan Bunting Black-headed Bunting Corn Bunting Rock Bunting House Bunting Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description European Serins are the smallest European finches. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male European Serins have a bright-yellow frons, chin, chest and upper belly. The lower belly, vent and undertail coverts are off-white. The sides are partly yellow, partly white and boldly streaked dark-brown to black. The crown and neck are yellowish, streaked with dark-grey, while the ear coverts are more greyish. The back and the wings are mostly dark-grey, with broad white or yellow edge lining. The tip of the tail is forked. Undertail and underwings are light-grey. Females have yellow tints only on the supercilia and on some upperwing coverts. Otherwise their plumage is highly cryptic. The front is light-grey, with bold dark-grey streaking on the sides, while their head and back are mostly olive-grey to dark-grey, with light-grey streaking or edge lining. Juveniles resemble females in overall morphology, but with a light-grey front and greyish-brown head and back, rather than olive-grey.

Taxonomy, classification See European Serin at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the European Serin is available HERE . European Serins are found in all of Europe, to the South of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, and in near-coastal northern Africa, near-coastal Asia Minor and along the coastal fringe of the Middle East into north-eastern Africa. There is a permanent population on the Canary Islands, the Atlas Mountain range and associated coastal lowlands, up to parts of the northern coastline of Libya. Also along the (near-)coastal fringe of Asia Minor, Syria, Lebanon and Israel/Palestine there is a permanent population, whereas farther inland in these countries, from the southern Sinai peninsula to southern Syria, and in the lower Nile valley and in Kurdistan only wintering populations are found. In Asia Minor only breeding migrants are found along the south-eastern coastline of the Black Sea (while the rest of coastal Turkey has a permanent population). In Europe, European Serins are found as permanent residents (in the western half of France and all around the Mediterranean Sea, including all Mediterranean islands) or as breeding migrants (from eastern France to the Baltic States, Bielorussia and Ukraine). They are NOT found along the Dutch/German North Sea coast, Denmark or anywhere in Scandinavia. The eastern European breeding migrants spend the winters in the Mediterranean, together with the local sedentary population, or farther to the South. During the breeding season European Serins have a preference for open (often mixed) woodland and also gardens. Outside the breeding season the are found in different types of habitat, depending on the availability of suitably small seeds.

Sightings Click here for sighting information J. Pires reports finding European Serins regularly in the area from the Tejo estuary to Mora, Evora, Portugal. D. Wilczynska reports spotting European Serins near Cagliari, in north-western Sardinia, Italy, in June 2016. D. Wilczynska also reports finding European Serins in Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, in July 2016 and again in June/July 2018. H. Dahlem-Senger spotted European Serins near Soller, Mallorca, Spain, in January 2018. M. Thomas reports finding an European Serin in the township of Eltville, Hessen, Germany, in March 2019. Other were seen repeatedly by H. Dahlem-Senger at the same location in the timeframe April-June 2021. G. Normand found an European Serin at Tete de Chien, Cap d'Ail, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France, in February 2021.

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.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

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