17-5-2016 CANAL LES FONTS OLIVA, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN SERIN (Serinus serinus)

The European serin, or simply the serin (Serinus serinus ), is the smallest European species of the family of finches (Fringillidae) and is closely related to the Atlantic canary. Its diet consists mainly of a combination of buds and seeds.

The European serin is a small short-tailed bird, 11–12 cm in length. The upper parts are dark-streaked greyish green, with a yellow rump. The yellow breast and white belly are also heavily streaked. The male has a brighter yellow face and breast, yellow wing bars and yellow tail sides. The song of this bird is a buzzing trill, very familiar in Mediterranean countries.

It breeds across southern and central Europe and North Africa. Southern and Atlantic coast populations are largely resident, but the northern breeders migrate further south in Europe for the winter. Open woodland and cultivation, often with some conifers, is favoured for breeding. It builds its nest in a shrub or tree, laying 3–5 eggs. It forms flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with other finches.

The food is mainly seeds, and, in the breeding season, insects. This small serin is an active and often conspicuous bird.

Serins are small finches with stubby bills and forked tails. Both males and females have streaky yellow brown upper parts, paler streaked under parts and lemon yellow rumps. Males have bright yellow heads with darker patches on the crown and below the eye, females and juveniles are browner in colour and less distinctive. Since the 1960s, serins have been recorded yearly in the UK in small numbers and have bred sporadically since the 1970s (in Devon, Dorset, Sussex, East Anglia and the Jersey) but no more than one or two pairs a year.