Citril finch

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Citril finch
Carduelis citrinella.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Subfamily: Carduelinae
Genus: Carduelis
Species:
C. citrinella
Binomial name
Carduelis citrinella
(Pallas, 1764)
Synonyms
  • Serinus citrinella(Pallas, 1764)
  • Fringilla citrinellaPallas, 1764

The citril finch (Carduelis citrinella), also known as the Alpine citril finch, is a small songbird, a member of the true finch family, Fringillidae.

Contents

This bird is a resident breeder in the mountains of southwestern Europe from Spain to the Alps. Its northernmost breeding area is found in the Black Forest of southwestern Germany.

Taxonomy

The citril finch was formally described by the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 under the binomial name Fringilla citrinella. [2] [3] The current genus name Carduelis is the Latin word for the European goldfinch, and the specific epithet citrinella is the Italian word for a small yellow bird. It is a diminutive of the Latin citrinus meaning citrine or light greenish-yellow. [4] The Corsican finch (Carduelis corsicana) was at one time considered as conspecific with the citril finch, but is now treated as a separate species. [5] Molecular genetic studies have shown that the citril finch is closely related to the European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis). [6]

Description and systematics

The citril finch has an overall length of 12 cm (4.7 in) and weighs around 12.5 g (0.44 oz). [7] It is greyish above, with a brown tinge to the back which also has black streaks. The underparts and the double wing bars are yellow. It shares with its relatives a bright face mask which in this species is also yellow.

Sexes are similar, although young females may be duller below, and juvenile birds unlike in the European Serinus species are brown, lacking any yellow or green in the plumage.

The song is a silvery twittering resembling that of the European goldfinch (C. carduelis) and that of the European serin (Serinus serinus). The main call is a tee-ee, quite similar to the Eurasian siskin (Spinus spinus).

Ecology

Carduelis citrinella MHNT Carduelis citrinella MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.221 Fort de Tournoux.jpg
Carduelis citrinella MHNT

The citril finch (Carduelis citrinella) differs from the Corsican finch (C. corsicana) in habitat selection. While the mainland citril finch is rather restricted to subalpine coniferous forests and Alpine meadows, the insular Corsican finch may be found in different habitats from sea level to the highest mountain slopes. The citril finch nests mainly in conifers such as pines (Pinus) and spruces (Picea) while the Corsican finch uses also lower bushes such as tree Heath (Erica arborea), juniper (Juniperus) and bramble (Rubus). [8]

Ranging more widely than its equally common eastern relative, the citril finch is classified as a Species of Least Concern by the IUCN. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finch</span> Family of birds

The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usually resident and do not migrate. They have a worldwide native distribution except for Australia and the polar regions. The family Fringillidae contains more than two hundred species divided into fifty genera. It includes the canaries, siskins, redpolls, serins, grosbeaks and euphonias, as well as the morphologically divergent Hawaiian honeycreepers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American goldfinch</span> Species of bird

The American goldfinch is a small North American bird in the finch family. It is migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canada–United States border to Mexico during the winter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European goldfinch</span> Species of bird

The European goldfinch or simply the goldfinch is a small passerine bird in the finch family that is native to Europe, North Africa and western and central Asia. It has been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay.

<i>Serinus</i> Genus of birds

Serinus is a genus of small birds in the finch family Fringillidae found in West Asia, Europe and Africa. The birds usually have some yellow in their plumage. The genus was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch. Its name is Neo-Latin for "canary-yellow".

<i>Carduelis</i> Genus of birds

The genus Carduelis is a group of birds in the finch family Fringillidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redpoll</span> Genus of birds

The redpolls are a group of small passerine birds in the finch family Fringillidae, which have characteristic red markings on their heads. They are placed in the genus Acanthis. The genus name Acanthis is from the Ancient Greek akanthis, a name for a small now unidentifiable bird.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasian siskin</span> Species of bird

The Eurasian siskin is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is also called the European siskin, common siskin or just siskin. Other (archaic) names include black-headed goldfinch, barley bird and aberdevine. It is very common throughout Europe and Eurosiberia. It is found in forested areas, both coniferous and mixed woodland where it feeds on seeds of all kinds, especially of alder and conifers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser goldfinch</span> Species of bird

The lesser goldfinch is a very small songbird of the Americas. Together with its relatives the American goldfinch and Lawrence's goldfinch, it forms the New World goldfinch clade in the genus Spinus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence's goldfinch</span> Species of bird

Lawrence's goldfinch is a small songbird of erratic distribution that breeds in California and Baja California and winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corsican finch</span> Species of bird

The Corsican finch, also known as the Corsican citril finch or Mediterranean citril finch, is a bird in the true finch family, Fringillidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oriole finch</span> Species of bird

The oriole finch is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is found in Africa and is native to Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. It lives in subtropical or tropical moist evergreen montane forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carduelinae</span> Subfamily of birds

The cardueline finches are a subfamily, Carduelinae, one of three subfamilies of the finch family Fringillidae, the others being the Fringillinae and the Euphoniinae. The Hawaiian honeycreepers are now included in this subfamily. Except for the Hawaiian honeycreepers which underwent adaptive radiation in Hawaii and have evolved a broad range of diets, cardueline finches are specialised seed eaters, and unlike most passerine birds, they feed their young mostly on seeds, which are regurgitated. Besides this, they differ from the other finches in some minor details of their skull. They are adept at opening seeds and clinging to stems, unlike other granivorous birds, such as sparrows and buntings, which feed mostly on fallen seeds. Some members of this subfamily are further specialised to feed on a particular type of seed, such as cones in the case of crossbills. Carduelines forage in flocks throughout the year, rather than keeping territories, and males defend their females rather than a territory or nest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooded siskin</span> Species of bird

The hooded siskin is a small passerine bird in the finch family (Fringillidae), native to South America. It belongs to the putative clade of neotropical siskins in the genus Spinus sensu lato.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-breasted greenfinch</span> Species of bird

The yellow-breasted greenfinch is a small passerine bird in the family Fringillidae that is native to the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African citril</span> Species of bird

The African citril, also known as the Abyssinian citril, is a species of finch. It is found from Ethiopia, Eritrea to western Kenya. It is closely related to the western and southern citril, to which it was formerly considered conspecific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indonesian serin</span> Species of bird

The Indonesian serin is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western citril</span> Species of bird

The western citril, also known as the yellow-browed citril, is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in central Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibetan serin</span> Species of bird

The Tibetan serin or Tibetan siskin is a true finch species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern citril</span> Species of bird

The southern citril also known as Serinus hyposticus is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It is found in South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi.

<i>Spinus</i> (bird) Genus of birds

Spinus is a genus of passerine birds in the finch family. It contains the North and South American siskins and goldfinches, as well as two Old World species.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2017) [amended version of 2016 assessment]. "Carduelis citrinella". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T22720062A111124877. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22720062A111124877.en . Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  2. Paynter, Raymond A. Jnr., ed. (1968). Check-list of birds of the world, Volume 14. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 211.
  3. Sherborn, C. Davies (1905). "The new species of birds in Vroeg's catalogue, 1764". Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 47: 332–341.
  4. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp.  91, 110. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Finches, euphonias". World Bird List Version 5.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  6. Zuccon, Dario; Prŷs-Jones, Robert; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Ericson, Per G.P. (2012). "The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 62 (2): 581–596. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.002. PMID   22023825.
  7. Cramp & Perrins 1994, pp. 536, 547.
  8. Förschler & Kalko (2006a), Förschler et al. (2006a,b)

Sources

Further reading