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Birds

Birds

Common name Eurasian siskin
Scientific name Spinus spinus
Type Forest birds
Status Wintering

Small bird (about 12 cm or 4.5 in) similar in colour to the European Serin or the European Greenfinch. Green upperparts with yellow spots on the tail and stripes of the same colour on the wings. Males with black throat and cap. Yellow belly, cleared in a dirty tone towards the legs. Long and thin bill. Short and moderately forked tail when closed.

Habitats

Woodland environments

Where it lives

Mountain forest species, linked to pine and fir woods (Spanish firs in the province). During the winter also present in groves, fields and open agricultural landscapes.

How it lives

Wintering species in the province, also present during the migratory passage. It breeds from April. Two annual layings of 3 to 5 eggs. Nest in tall branches of conifers. Granivore. It consumes seeds of these and other trees. Gregarious and common in mixed bands with other finches. It is a bird of treetops, more than its relatives the goldfinches or linnets, which prefer the ground and grass plants.

Where it can be seen in Malaga

It is a relatively frequent bird in winter in the existing forest stands of conifers in the different mountains in the province. It is present in the Sierra de las Nieves, for example. In the Great Path it can be watched in stages 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 31, 33 and 34.

Curious facts

The Spanish name of this bird ("lúgano") seems to be related to two meanings. On the one hand, in certain regions the birds that were frequent in the same place are called "lugareńos" or "lúgaros". On the other, from the Latin "lucanus", birds that sing at dawn or with the aurora. Its scientific name comes from the ancient Greek ("spinos") and refers to a bird that was unknown among chaffinches (Fringilla), a genus inside of which this bird was classified in the past and to which it no longer belongs because it is more related to goldfinches.

Present
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Wintering Summer Resident Migration
Audios