Male Eurasian siskins have a black cap on their heads and a black chin patch. Their face, breast, and the rest of their bodies are greenish-yellow. Their wings are black with distinct yellow wing bars.
There are also yellow parts on both sides of their tail. Females and juveniles are yellowish with streaky lines.
- Spinus spinus
- Length: 5 inches (12.7 cm)
- Weight: 0.5 oz (14.2 g)
- Wingspan: 9 inches (22.9 cm)
Range
Eurasian siskins are usually found in Europe and Asia, but they occasionally stray into Alaska and the northeast coast of the United States and Canada.
Habitat And Diet
You can find Eurasian siskins in woodlands and forests. They are known to have unpredictable migratory patterns, seemingly going where there are plenty of seeds.
Eurasian siskins’ favorite food are seeds, especially alder and birch catkins. They prefer to eat in trees instead of on the ground. In spring, they feed in coniferous forests, eating seeds from elms and poplars. In summer, they add herbs like goosefoots and Compositae.
In autumn and winter, they join other finches in eating seeds from deciduous trees like birch and herbaceous plants like meadowsweet.
Eurasian Siskin Song:
Nests
Nests of the Eurasian siskin are safely hidden on a high branch of a conifer tree. Breeding pairs usually form colonies together with their nests close to each other. Nests are small and bowl-shaped, made out of twigs, grass, moss, and lichen, and it is softened with down feathers.
The females lay two to six eggs. It takes 10 to 14 days of incubation, and they leave the nests after fifteen days.
Fun Fact:
In St. Petersburg, you will find a statue of a siskin because its colors are similar to the uniform of students from an elite school in the city. The students themselves bear the nickname, siskins.
