Syrian serin

The Syrian serin is a brightly coloured small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.

Description

The Syrian serin is prettily coloured with bright yellow and pale grey feathers. The eyes are large and are surrounded by a bright yellow ring. The beak is grey and the legs are pale pinkish-grey. It has a long trilling call, and may also chirp and twitter.

Distribution and habitat

All Syrian serin breeds in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan at altitudes of between 900 – 1,900 metres. The population in Jordan makes local movements in winter, but the birds of Lebanon, Israel and Syria migrate to wintering grounds in Egypt, Turkey and Iraq. They inhabit rocky areas with oak and conifer shrubs or trees and frequent grasslands and fields feeding mainly on the seeds of annuals and grasses. In Southwestern Jordan, its main diet during winter is the seeds of Artemisia.

Phylogeny

This species is phylogenetically included within the group of Serinus alario now thriving around the southern Africa tip, together with Serinus canicollis (African distribution) and Serinus pusillus (Asian distribution) Arnaiz-Villena et al, 1999 and Arnaiz-Villena et al, 2006