Girlitz

This article is about the species European Serin, to appropriate generic see Girlitze .

Girlitz
Serin ( Serinus serinus ), male
Systematics
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri) Family : Finches (Fringillidae) Subfamily : Goldfinches (Carduelinae) Tribe : Carduelini Genre : Giraffe ( Serinus ) Type : Girlitz
Scientific name
Serinus serinus
( Linnaeus , 1766)

The girlitz ( Serinus serinus ) is the smallest European species from the finch family (Fringillidae) and is closely related to the Canary girl . Its somewhat hectic and clanking call "zr-r-rilitt" gave the bird its name. The slightly stereotypical and repeatedly recurring, cyclical vocal stanzas of the Girlitzes are unusual among the goldfinch-like (Carduelinae). The Girlitz populates North Africa , continental Europe and Asia Minor . Its diet consists mainly of buds and seeds . The species is currently not considered endangered.

description

Like all members of the genus, the girlitz is round in shape with a short neck. It is characterized by a blunt conical beak and a bright yellow rump . The tail is slightly longer and forked less deeply than that of siskins . The central control feathers are uniformly dark, the feet reddish to dark brown, the irises of the eyes brown. Giritzes have a body length of a good 11 centimeters and a wingspan of a good 20 centimeters. The body weight is 11–13 grams.

male

female

The girlitz shows a gender dimorphism . The male has yellow, more or less intensely striped plumage. The forehead, the throat and the middle of the chest are unstriped yellow, but immediately after the juvenile moult in autumn they are covered by darker feather edges. There are indistinct blackish shaft stripes and yellowish-green hems at the top of the head. At the ear covers it can be limited by a narrow, yellow neck band. The back, which is roughly black longitudinally striped, usually has a yellowish color on the lateral feather edges. The lively yellow rump shows individual, narrow, sharply set shaft lines on the front feathers and a white cross band inserted between the gray base of the feathers and the yellow tip section. The remainder of the tail, which is gray to one third, is yellowish-green with a brown shaft area and a gray tip border. The yellow sides of the chest are increasingly pale in color towards the rear; the yellowish-white flanks are marked by blackish lines on the shaft. The belly is whitish. The pale under tail-coverts are greenish-yellow or whitish with a greenish-yellow tinge. The brown control feathers have a narrow yellow-green outer and light beige inner flag and tip border, the wing and cover feathers are brown on the upper side of the wing. While the hand wings have a narrow green, partly beige outer flag border, the arm wings show a greenish beige outer flag and tip border. The hand covers and all large arm covers are colored (yellow) greenish beige; the inner vane at the top is greenish beige (yellow). The middle arm and edge ceilings show a more intense yellow-green. The wing feathers are colored gray-brown on the underside; the large under wing-coverts are light gray beige. The remaining coverts can show a strong greenish-yellow tinge.

The female has yellow plumage that is paler than the male. Apart from the mostly unmarked, intensely light yellow rump, the plumage is longitudinally striped black-brown everywhere. Strong stripes can be found on the chest and back. A neck band is indicated by yellowish feather hems; The crown and back are otherwise light brown to beige. It seldom has a pronounced shade of green. In the wing, the greenish hems in the male show a beige tone with a greenish tinge.

Young birds are colored cinnamon brown to reddish brown with dark vertical stripes up to the juvenile moult in autumn and have no yellow rump. The cinnamon-brown upper head, neck, back and shoulder feathers have broad brown-black shaft stripes; The neck and cheeks are similarly light and yellowish as the underside. The cinnamon-brown or yellow rear back is characterized by brown-black shaft stripes. The tail is colored gray-brown and has a wide cinnamon-brown border. The chin, throat and front chest are light cinnamon brown, on the front chest yellow white to yellowish beige. The striking black shaft stripe is striking. While the belly is yellowish-cream-colored, the light cinnamon-brown flank feathers show a distinctively contrasting, dark brown-gray shaft stripe. The beige under tail-coverts are characterized by a pointed, dark brown-gray shaft stripe. The rudder feathers are colored brown and are characterized by a narrow greenish-yellow outer plume border and beige tip and inner plume border. While the dark brown hand wings have a narrow greenish-yellow outer flag and cinnamon-brown tip hem, half of the arm wings have a rust-brown outer flag and tip hem with a greenish-yellow tinge. The dark brown hand covers have a greenish-cinnamon-brown outer flag border. The large and middle arm covers are colored dark brown and show a strikingly contrasting rusty cinnamon brown outer flag and lace border. The coverts on the underside of the wing are brownish-gray. The beak is horn gray or horn brown; the beak ridges creamy yellow.

While the juvenile moult is a partial moult in Central Europe, it is more extensive on the Iberian Peninsula , but not a full moult. In Switzerland , the juvenile moult lasts from mid-July to the end of October.

The flight of the girlitz is noticeably wavy and corresponds to the typical flight pattern of the finches.

Voice and singing

Vocals, recorded at Ystad (Sweden)

The name "Girlitz" derives from the bird's two- to three-syllable voice feeler call , which consists of high, loud trills. It sounds like “tirrilillit” or “zirrirrilit”. Sounds such as “chizick”, “chit-chitschit” are used to establish contact or to lure people. In order to warn conspecifics, the girlitz emits a single or repeated, somewhat squeezed “nätsch” or nasal “wäji” from itself. These calls are inserted between song verses if necessary.

The begging call of the fledgling young birds consists of a two-syllable high "prrrp" or "zii", "ziiz" and "ziz" (singly or in a row). When aroused, it sounds more like "ziiz-ziiz, ziz-ziz-zii".

The clanking-whirring full song is made up of a dense and very fast sequence of short, high-pitched sounds, which have given this bird the names "glass cutter" and "brain grill". The pitch is mainly between five and nine kilohertz . The vocal repertoire includes over 50 complex syllables that form their own songs at a very fast pace and in a very stereotypical order. Strong variations can be found in the transition from one tour (connected sequence of syllables, i.e. (partial) stanza) to another ( modulation ). The vocal repertoire is unique among the goldfinch-like (Carduelinae). It also includes a variable number of syllables that are also used in the song of other birds. It has been proven that the composition of the repertoire varies geographically.

The singing is structured in cycles ( periodicity ) that have no fixed temporal structure and can be stopped abruptly at any time. New elements can be integrated in a limited number of places in a recurring interval . The structuring in phrases (phrase: independent conclusion of a piece of music) is not very pronounced. The stanzas contain trill tours, which consist of short trills or whirring "rirr", "sirr", "sis", "sii" sounds and "zirr", "lirr", "lil" "- and" lit "sounds as well as fast, repetitive tours with steep-sided elements (dense, very fast syllable sequence of short, high sounds). The latter represent the sonogram the main part of the song. Both vocal elements have differences in terms of the average use of inter elementary intervals (transition from one tour to another) on. In addition, they probably also differentiate in terms of breathing movements. The duration of the stanzas usually fluctuates considerably. The girlitz often uses short stanzas, especially at the beginning of the song. While courtship and district singing sometimes has a more sonorous pearling tour inserted between the verses, the counter singing in particular is dominated by stanzas set almost directly behind one another, which are usually separated from each other by a "cirrilit".

The girlitz performs the stanzas with an open beak and a slightly raised tail either from a singing station or in flight. During the singing flight he shakes all over and turns his head over and over from one side to the other. Often he sings on from one vantage point to the other in flight, often he makes slow and far-reaching wingbeats in expressive flight and throws himself to the right and left.

As a rule, the Reviergesang in Central Europe begins in February, but especially in the second half of March. From the beginning of July to the beginning of August the number of singing birds decreases increasingly, even if individual specimens perform their full song and show singing flights until the end of July. From the end of August until January, the Girlitz lets you hear the rough, scratchy autumn and winter song that corresponds to the youth song. Both in winter quarters and in April in the breeding area, it sometimes increases to choral singing. Singing can often be heard while resting on the way home.

distribution

Distribution area of Serinus serinus : orange: mostly part migrants
green: annual bird , partly also winter visitor
blue: known wintering areas without breeding occurrences

The girlitz is common in North Africa and continental Europe as well as in Asia Minor . The original distribution area lies in the Mediterranean area and extends from North Africa to southern Europe. In the 19th and 20th centuries the Girlitz began to expand its distribution area to Central and Western Europe and to colonize the Middle East . The Girlitz can also be found in the Baltic States . In the east it is widespread in Belarus , Ukraine and as far as the coast of the Black Sea . In the south it populates the Balearic Islands , the Canary Islands , the Aegean Islands , Cyprus , but also the north of Morocco , Tunisia , Algeria and Egypt .

hikes

Giritzes are resident birds in southern Europe and North Africa . In Central Europe and Asia Minor they are part migrants and in parts of Denmark and southern Sweden they are migratory birds . The winter quarters used from November to February are in western and southern Europe, in North Africa and in the Middle East.

Area expansion

The Girlitz expanded its distribution area, especially in the 20th century, to the north and northeast. However, the spread, especially in Great Britain , is described contradictingly. While the Swedes assume that the Girlitz reached parts of Denmark and southern Sweden from southern areas of the Baltic Sea and the Channel coast in the 1940s to 1950s , the British place the beginning of the expansion of Great Britain and southern Scandinavia in the 1970s.

According to Brown, the first girlitz was sighted in Great Britain as early as 1852, but the first breeding pair was not observed until 1967 in Dorset . Since then, according to a source, around 60 birds have appeared annually, mostly in spring and fewer in autumn. According to another source, only two proven breeding pairs have so far been found, although several are suspected to be in the British Isles. Another source contradicts this, according to which 20 couples were counted on Jersey and some couples were sighted in Devon . The expected colonization has not yet taken place. Only a few singing males have been found in recent years, but no further evidence of breeding. Finally, one source identified exactly 368 birds in Great Britain for the period from 1958 to 2003.

habitat

The habitat in Central Europe ranges from the sea coast to an altitude of 2000 m. The preferred habitats of the Girlitz are open landscapes in flat regions or slopes. Trees and bushes surrounded by herbaceous areas offer hiding places, high singing points and a sufficient food base. But it also populates moors , mountain landscapes, bushes and thickets on rivers and streams, the peripheral areas of various forest communities and the interior of light forests.

The Girlitz settles in Central Europe as a cultural successor in small-scale and diversely managed settlement areas. It has the greatest settlement densities in metropolitan suburbs and more rural settlements with gardens , avenues , parks , cemeteries , tree nurseries , olive groves, traditional wine-growing areas and orchards, as long as these do not consist predominantly of low-stemmed crops . Railway systems and industrial sites with storage areas can also serve as breeding habitats. The species is less common in villages with a purely rural character or near individual farms. Forest zones away from the edge are generally avoided, as are large city centers and closed forest areas. Overwinterers predominantly colonize ruderal fields with mugwort and other seed-bearing shrubs and herbs. However, they can also be found on rubble, construction and rubble sites as well as on sewage treatment plants and railway embankments when trees are nearby.

In Spain the girlitz is widespread up to 2500 m and the Pyrenees up to 2080 m. He prefers forests and tree-rich landscapes there. He mainly inhabits floodplain and holm oak forests , but also ash stands and orange groves . Forests serve as habitats up to the upper tree line . In the Balkans , the Girlitz can only be found in the ( Pirin ) Mountains up to an altitude of 2500 m. In the south of the peninsula and in Asia Minor it populates exclusively mountain conifer forests. In Greece these are mainly fir forests , in Anatolia also forests of the Calabrian pine and Lebanon cedar . Outside the breeding season, the Girlitz prefers herbaceous areas and ruderal fields .

In the High Atlas , the higher pasture areas and gorse and juniper heaths are also suitable habitats.

nutrition

Breeding pair eating bird seed together

The girlitz usually looks for its food all year round on the ground and sometimes on perennials or in birches . It feeds mainly on buds and seeds , especially in summer also on small insects . The girlitz prefers to eat meadow dandelions , chickweed , bird knotweed and shepherd's purse . Its diet also consists of the following wild herbs : mugwort , true meadowsweet , meadow sorrel , field goose thistle , white goose foot and common ball of grass . It also eats birch, alder , elm and sunflower seeds . It also feeds on flowers , leaves and aphids .

Reproduction

The Girlitz leads a monogamous brood marriage. The breeding season in Central Europe lasts from mid-March to mid-May. There is evidence that hibernators move into their territories earlier than those who move home.

Courtship and mating

The male initiates courtship. It usually sits in a two to four meter high fork in a bush or tree. It amplifies the singing and lets the wings hang while it turns on its own axis. As soon as it has lured a female with its song, it ruffles its throat feathers, lets its wings hang down and spreads its tail feathers, continuously turning its body to the left and right. Then it rises unexpectedly and soars singing. It flutters with slowly flapping wings in larger circles around its stand tree or from one singing station to the next. Once it has landed there, the courtship ritual is continued, which is intended to encourage the female to build a nest. While courting, the female often lets out her trilling call and flaps her wings. It is constantly on the move and mostly prompts for mating.

Nest building and brood

Gelege, Museum Wiesbaden collection

After the female has checked possible nesting sites in the company of the male, it begins to build the nest. The Girlitz prefers well-hidden places in connection with a good view. In low mountain ranges , protection against the main wind direction is also important. Often the girlitz chooses a nesting place in conifers or dense trees and bushes . But branches and forks of deciduous trees that promise support and cover are also used. In Central and Western Europe, most of the girlitzes nest in trees of life ( Thuja spp.), Fewer specimens in box trees ( Buxus ), in junipers ( Juniperus ) or in maples ( Acer spp.). The small, bowl-shaped nest is built by the female from fine twigs, small roots , dry stalks , leaf veins , flower panicles of grass, flower heads of herbs, green moss , plant fibers , seed hair , animal and / or plant wool . Cobwebs, woolen threads, cords, scraps of paper and scraps of fabric are still used. The nest hollow is padded with fine roots and / or stalks and guard hair, fibers, wool hair, feathers , wadding , wool threads. The materials may vary depending on the offer. Nest building usually begins in mid-April and takes about three to six days. During the breeding season, the male guards the female and the breeding tree or bush against conspecifics.

As soon as the female has finished the nest, she lays the first egg and a new one every day. Giritzes only breed when the clutch is complete with three to five eggs. The eggs have a greenish or bluish base color and are spotted brown-red and light purple. Their size is between 14.4 × 11.0 mm² and 17.6 × 12.5 mm². The females are in Europe from April to August, in Africa from February to May in breeding mood. Accordingly, they breed once or twice a year. A close couple cohesion is characteristic. The female breeds alone and is not replaced by the male. It leaves the nest briefly in the morning and in the evening to put down feces and drink. The rest of the time, the male provides the female with food from the crop. The females usually sit very firmly and persistently on the eggs. The breeding season lasts about twelve to fourteen days.

The breeding success in Central Europe, excluding total losses, is around 70.5 percent. The proportion of hatched young birds is 90.3 percent. In comparison, only 42.2 percent of the broods in Poland are successful. The high success rate of the broods can be explained by the small size of the nest, which alone provides good privacy. Common causes of loss are predation by corvids and cats , ants infestation and strong winds. Continuous rain can lead to the death of older nestlings that are no longer struggling. The proportion of predation increases in the course of the breeding season, but the low breeding success towards the end of the season is mainly due to heat and drought-related losses. The most common nest predators are the black rat ( Rattus rattus ), corvids and the Montpellier snake ( Malpolen monspessulanus is). Compared to Central Europe is reflected in the southern orange groves during the breeding season, the deterioration in clutch size. In summer the environmental conditions deteriorate to such an extent that only previously unsuccessful breeding pairs take part in further breeding attempts.

Development of the young

The hatching of the brood can extend over a period of up to three days. On the day of hatching, the young live on the yolk sac. To inspect the nest, the female regularly interrupts huddling . Both partners feed the nestlings once or twice a day with food that has been choked out of the goiter . In this phase, the young birds also need animal protein, so that they can also be supplied with small insects , beetles , caterpillars and aphids . They also get a lot of leaves and buds to eat. The eyes of the nestlings open slit-shaped on the fourth day, the ears from the fifth day. Larger nestlings beg loudly and persistently. After about a week the young look for the edge of the nest, lift themselves up on it and defecate over the edge. After the 14th day of life, the urge to flee is stimulated so that the young can jump out of the nest in the event of disturbances. Apart from a stubby tail and down on the head, they have full plumage. Over the 16th to 17th day, the young fly out and spread around the nest tree. However, they will still be fed by their parents until the 23rd day. Often times the male looks after the young alone and teaches them to look for food and to eat independently. Meanwhile the female starts the second brood.

After two to three months, the fully fledged, i.e. independent young birds have completed their juvenile moulting, in which only the small plumage without wing and tail feathers is exchanged, and are sexually mature by the end of the first year of life. They are in danger from cats , birds of prey and martens . Wild birds live a maximum of eight to nine years.

After all adult birds have finished moulting in late summer after six to eight weeks, Central European Giritzes join together in larger flocks and move to southern Europe in October. They'll be back in March.

behavior

Giritzes are diurnal. They leave their sleep almost at the start of the day, and look for it again at sunset. The foraging for food is most intense in the early morning hours. The girlitz can even sing intensely in the early afternoon in midsummer. The activity phase is often interrupted by rest and cleaning phases. Often the girlitz goes to water points to drink and bathe. In the case of southern European birds, the activity phase begins much later and ends earlier in winter.

Social behavior

Girlitzes communicate by shouting and also singing. They are very peaceful and compatible birds. If they see predators, they fly into the shelter of bushes and trees and emit a warning call. Mated birds look for food together, the male sometimes alone. In disputes, especially about coveted food, seating or nesting material, the rivals limit themselves to threatening each other, after which the loser gives up. If the spread of the wings is not enough, they aggressively chop their beaks and sometimes chase each other. If one of the rivals surrenders, he stretches his body and puts his plumage tight. Even if a girl is terrified, he shows this humility behavior. Beak skirmishes and chases occur especially during the mating season.

If girlitzes want to show great affection, they beak together. If they also clean each other, they show their sympathy for one another. They often offer their partner body parts for care that they cannot reach with their beak when cleaning. As a request to clean, one of them extends the neck, head or throat towards the other. The partner now pulls one feather after the other through the beak at the point presented. But if he touches other parts of the body, the cleaned person will immediately become restless, peck at him or fly away.

The Girlitz has developed a pronounced body language, which can sometimes be confused with body care. Spreading the wings can on the one hand serve as a threat to its conspecifics in order to claim food, the territory or a female for itself, but on the other hand it can only be a stretch to cool off. An open beak either serves as a threat or is a means of cooling down (panting). Sharpening the beak on a branch can on the one hand serve to appease aggressive conspecifics, but on the other hand only serve to clean the same. If he holds his head to one side, he asks his partner to scratch it or observes his surroundings with one eye.

Territorial behavior

During the breeding season the girlitz behaves territorially. In its territory, the male likes to sing in raised singing stations with an unrestricted view over the area, so that he can be seen by females and rivals while singing and courtship flight. Depending on the habitat, clashes between neighboring males end over the course of hours or days. While singing flights can end in chases at first, neighbors in the area limit themselves later to counter-singing. In autumn, sleeping communities of up to 150 individuals emerge, which in winter can also be mixed with swarms of bloodlines , goldfinches and greenlings .

The settlement density of the Girlitz varies very strongly even with extensive distribution and depends on the choice and size of the mapping areas due to the densely packed occurrence in favorable habitats. In preferred habitats, the centers of neighboring districts are on average about 80 m apart; neighboring nests are on average about 25 to 75 m apart. Singing flights can cover distances of up to 500 m. The average settlement density is between 2 and 14 breeding pairs on 10  hectares, depending on the habitat . The area sizes can therefore be assumed to be between 0.7 hectares and 5 hectares. While in Central European cemeteries an average of 2 breeding pairs are registered on 10 hectares, in Polish cemeteries and in city parks an average of 5 to 8 breeding pairs live on 10 hectares. While in urban areas, which usually have a very uneven distribution with local concentrations of up to 5 breeding pairs per hectare, the settlement density hardly exceeds 2 breeding pairs per 10 hectares in large areas, in rural areas it is up to 2.5 breeding pairs per 10 hectares. In the Zerr oak mixed forest, an average of 13.7 breeding pairs live on 10 hectares.

Systematics

External system

By DNA -Untersuchungen of the mitochondrial cytochrome b, it was found that the genus Serinus closely related to the genus Carduelis is used. Further phylogenetic studies of mitochondrial cytochrome b on 20 species of the genus Serinus included the molecular clock in their analysis. The DNA dendrograms indicate that the genus Serinus first appeared nine million years ago in the Miocene . The development of the subspecies began two million years ago in the Pleistocene . On average, the divergence in the DNA of the cell nucleus between the various Serinus species is around four percent. This value suggests a remarkably rapid spread of the species compared to other species of songbirds . Conclusions from phylogenetic dendrograms of most Carduelis and Serinus species show that the spreading radii of both genera are entangled in the development period and are also not monophyletic . The first Serinus species appeared about half a million years after the Carduelis species.

These studies in connection with geographic and phenotypic datasets of the genus Serinus indicate five groups:

1. Mediterranean girlitz, excluding the isolated species lemon girly ( Serinus citrinella ) and Corsican lemon girly ( Serinus corsicanus ), which are assigned to the genus Carduelis ;
2. Asian-African medium-sized girlitz, contains the species Alariogirlitz ( Serinus alario ), yellow-crowned girlitz ( Serinus canicollis ) and red- fronted girlitz ( Serinus pusillus );
3. small African girlitzes;
4. large African giraffe;
5. extinct girlitzes.

The closest relationship of the Serinus serinus looks like this:

Serinus	Serinus serinus      Serinus canaria      Serinus canaria forma domestica      Serinus canicollis      Serinus alario      Serinus pusillus      Serinus syriacus

The separation of the girlitz from the Canary girl ( Serinus canaria ) took place 3.5 to 4.3 million years ago. The hybrids between the two birds turn out to be infinitely fertile with one another. Other close relatives are the yellow- headed girlitz ( Serinus canicollis ), red- fronted girlitz ( Serinus pusillus ) and the Alariogirlitz ( Serinus alario ).

Current investigations of the mitochondrial cytochrome b of the genus Serinus sensu lato (including the putative genera Alario , Pseudochloroptila , Serinops , Ochrospiza , Dendrospiza and Crithagra ) establish two groups:

1. Palearctic and afrotropic taxa , contains Serinus serinus , Serinus canaria , Alario alario (formerly: Serinus alario ) and the Serinus canicollis complex ( S. c. Canicollis , S. c. Thompsonae , S. c. Flavivertex )
2. Endemic afrotropic taxa Pseudochloroptila , Serinops , Ochrospiza , Poliospiza , Dendrospiza and Crithagra spp .

Both groups are separated from each other by Carduelis taxa, so that Serinus sensu lato is regarded as paraphylitic and is now mostly given as two genera ( Serinus and Crithagra ).

Internal system

According to ITIS, no subspecies are described for the girlitz. However, other sources assume two subspecies:

• Serinus serinus serinus is the nominate form .
• Serinus serinus flaviserinus is usually considered disabled.

Inventory and inventory development

The worldwide distribution area of ​​the Girlitz is estimated at 4,510,000 km². The large global population comprises around 30,000,000 to 80,000,000 individuals. Therefore the species is classified as not endangered (LC).

The European breeding population accounts for more than 75 percent of the global distribution. It is very large with more than 8,300,000 pairs and increased between 1970 and 1990. Although there between 1990 and 2000 declines in France and Malta were the trends in other countries were Europe stable or increasing, including key population in Spain . Since the population as a whole is stable, the Girlitz is consequently listed as secure.

In Germany the population is increasing in the west and is constant in the east. The East German population comprises about a third to a quarter of all German individuals, so that the trend weighted according to the estimated total population is positive for the whole country. After Germany was resettled in the 1930s to 1970s, there have been significant population declines again, particularly in the northwest, since the late 1970s.

Girlitz and human

Ringing a girlitz

In 1766, Carl von Linné gave the bird the Latin name Fringilla serinus . From antiquity to the 15th century, the girlitz was a particularly popular cage bird because of its song. When the import of the Canary Islands began at this time , however, the demand fell. Nevertheless, the crosses of both species could be sold to a more upscale customer base at affordable prices. Even today the girlitz is kept as an ornamental bird; but these mixed breeds are no longer breeding goals.

Before the breeder is interested in being interested, the necessary training should be provided through suitable literature before purchasing these birds. The attitude largely corresponds to that of the canary . Differences show up in a changed food composition and an increased susceptibility to intestinal diseases that are caused by coccidia . The association with Linnet , Goldfinch , Greenfinch , birch and Siskins and Gimpel is possible even when the simultaneous CBI's Gimpel and Stieglitz should be avoided.

While in Germany wild catches are illegal according to § 20d BNatSchG , the Girlitz is allowed in Malta according to the EC- Convention on the Conservation of European Wild Plants and Animals and their Natural Habitats of September 19, 1979, which Malta joined in 1994, from 1 Legally caught September through January 31st. In fact, however, this permit only applies to the period from October 1st to April 10th under Maltese law. Among other things, girlitzes are caught alive by bird hunting and trapping, in order to later be kept privately in small cages or sold at bird markets in Valletta .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} P. G. Mota, GC Cardoso: Song organization and patterns of variation in the serin (Serinus serinus). Acta ethologica, Volume 3, Number 2 / April 2001: 141-150, Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, 2004, doi: 10.1007 / s102110000034 .
2. ↑ Sound sample ( WAV ; 89 kB), spectrogram
3. ↑ Sound example , ornithological station Sempach
4. ↑ ^{a b} ArtDatabanken  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , May 30, 2006  
5. ↑ ^{a b} Birdguides: Serin Serinus serinus # population ( Memento of the original from August 31, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ^ A. Brown, British Birds 100: 214-243, 2007
7. ↑ BTO Birdfacts: Serinus serinus (Linnaeus, 1766)
8. ^ Scarce Migrant Birds in Britain
9. ↑ R. Srámek-Husek: Pfiíspûvky k sociologii a ochranu ptactva I. Ptactvo Musta âáslavû [A contribution to at oecological study of birds in relation to bird protection. I. Birds of âáslav town]. Rozpravy II. Tfiídy âeské akadémie 53, 17: 1–39, 1944
10. ↑ R. Srámek-Husek, Z. Duben: Pfiíspûvky k sociologii a ochranû ptactva II. Ptactvo hfibitova a polích remízkÛ u âáslavû (A contribution to an oecological study of birds in relation to protection. II. Birds of a semmatory area and birds nesting in field-bushes in the vicinity of âáslav). Sylvia 8: 25-36, 1946
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} von Blotzheim 1997 - Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas (HBV) Vol. 14/2: pp. 462–501.
12. ↑ The Birdhouse: Girlitz ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
13. ↑ ^{a b} Average from eight years of observation: a) Stone pit of 8.3 hectares: 1.375 districts, i.e. 0.2 breeding pairs (BP) / ha; b) Suburban areas totaling 11.2 hectares: 4,375 districts, i.e. 0.4 BP / ha;
    Source: Thomas Sattler, Michael Tobler: Population development and structural dependency of breeding birds in two residential areas in the city of Solothurn. Der Ornithologische Beobachter 101: 177-192, 2004, web link  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ↑ ^{a b} In three cemeteries an average of 0.4 BP / ha; 7.96% dominance (relative abundance);
    Source: Ludovít Kociani, Danka Némethová, Dana Melicherová, Adriana Matusková: Breeding bird communities in three cemeteries in the City of Bratislava (Slovakia). Folia Zool. 52 (2): 177–188, 2003, web link ( memento of the original dated April 24, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 91 kB) 
15. ↑ Antonio Arnaiz-Villena, J. Guillén, V. Ruiz-del-Valle, E. Lowy, J. Zamora, P. Varela, D. Stefani, LM Allende: Phylogeography of crossbills, bullfinches, grosbeaks, and rosefinches. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences Vol. 58: 1159–1166, 2001, web link (PDF; 277 kB)
16. ^ Antonio Arnaiz-Villena: Tempo of evolution and phylogeography of canaries and goldfinches. Dept Immunology and Molecular Biology, H. 12 de Octubre, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain, 1999, web link ( Memento of the original dated December 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
17. ↑ ^{a b c} Antonio Arnaiz-Villena, M. Álvarez-Tejado, V. Ruíz-del-Valle, C. García-de-la-Torre, P. Varela, MJ Recio, S. Ferre, J. Martinez-Laso: Rapid Radiation of Canaries (Genus Serinus). Department of Immunology and Molecular Biology, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain, 1998, Weblink (PDF; 435 kB)
18. ↑ A. Arnaiz-Villena, M. Álvarez-Tejado, V. Ruíz-del-Valle, C. García-de-la-Torre, P. Varela, MJ Recio, S. Ferre, J. Martinez-Laso: Phylogeny and rapid northern and southern hemisphere speciation of Goldfinches during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 54: 1031-1041, 1998
19. ↑ D. Zuccon, R. Prŷs-Jones, P. Rasmussen and P. Ericson: The phylogenetic relationships and generis Limits of finches (Fringillidae) . In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . tape 62 , no. 2 , February 2012, p. 581-596 , doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2011.10.002 ( nrm.se [PDF]).
20. ↑ Alfred Kühn: Physiology of inheritance and species conversion. Natural Sciences Vol. 23: 1-10, 1935
21. ↑ PG Ryan, D. Wright, G. Oatley, J. Wakeling, C. Cohen, TL Nowell, RCK Bowie, V. Ward, TM Crowe: Systematics of Serinus canaries and the status of Cape and Yellow-crowned Canaries inferred from mtDNA and morphology. Ostrich - Journal of African Ornithology Vol. 75: 288-294 (7), 2004, web link ( Memento of the original dated November 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
22. ↑ ITIS Report: Serinus serinus (Linnaeus, 1766)
23. ↑ Avibase Database: Girlitz (Serinus serinus) (Linnaeus, 1766)
24. ↑ Avibase Database: Serinus serinus flaviserinus (Trischitta, 1939)
25. ↑ Birdlife Factsheet: European Serin
26. ^ Birds in Europe: European Serin
27. ↑ euronatur: Migratory Bird Hunting ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.2 MB)

literature

• ArtDatabanks. Fact tray: Serinus serinus - gulhämpling. Förf. Paul Axelsson 1987. Rev. Greger Flykt 1994, Patrik Olofsson 2000, web link , May 30, 2006
• Berthold Bauer: The breeding birds of Central Europe. Existence and endangerment. Aula Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-89104-613-8 .
• G. Creutz: The spread of the girlitzes (Serinus canaria serinus L.). In: The falcon. 9, 1968, pp. 35-36.
• Einhard Bezzel : FSVO manual birds. BLV Buchverlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-8354-0022-3 .
• Hans-Günther Bauer, Einhard Bezzel, Wolfgang Fiedler : The compendium of birds in Central Europe. Volume 2: Passeriformes - passerine birds. Everything about biology, endangerment and protection. Aula Verlag, Wiebelsheim, 2005, ISBN 3-89104-648-0 .
• Horst Bielfeld: siskins, giraffe, bullfinches and grosbeak. Origin, care, species. Ulmer Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-8001-3675-9 .
• Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim : Handbook of the birds of Central Europe 14/2, Passeriformes. Aula Verlag, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-89104-610-3 .
• R. Kinzelbacher: The distribution of the Serinus serinus (L., 1766) in the 16th century. In: Journal of Ornithology. 145, 2004, pp. 177-187.
• E. Kumari: On the breeding occurrence of the Serinus serinus L.) in the Eastern Baltic. In: Journal of Ornithology. 99, 1958, pp. 32-34.
• H. Kumerloeve: From the northwestern border area of ​​the Girlitz spread. In: Contribution to ornithology. 5, 1956-1957, pp. 77-99.
• E. Mayr: The spread of the girlitzes (S. canaria serinus L.). In: Journal of Ornithology. 74, 1926, pp. 571-671.
• I. Newton: The finches. Collins, London 1972.
• V. Olsson: The expansion of the Serinus serinus in Northern Europe in the last decades. In: Vogelwarte. 25, 1969, pp. 147-156.
• V. Olsson: Studies of Less Familiar Birds, 165 Serin. In: British Birds. 64, 1971, pp. 213-223.

Web links

Commons : Giraffe ( Serinus serinus )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Videos, photos and sound recordings about Serinus serinus in the Internet Bird Collection
• Entry at NABU with sound sample
• Entry at the Swiss Ornithological Institute
• Entry at BTO BirdFacts
• Serinus serinus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on January 1 of 2009.
• Age and gender characteristics (PDF; 4.9 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
• Feathers of the giraffe

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on March 14, 2008 in this version .