Siskin

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Siskin
Siskin (Spinus spinus)

Siskin ( Spinus spinus )

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Family : Finches (Fringillidae)
Subfamily : Goldfinches (Carduelinae)
Tribe : Carduelini
Genre : Siskin
Scientific name
Spinus
Koch , 1816

The siskins ( Spinus ) represent a genus in the family of finches (Fringillidae). The name Zeisig originally comes from West Slavonic (Czech: "čížek", Polish: "czyżyk") and was used in the 13th and 14th centuries Middle High German transmitted. Some birds outside the genus Spinus also bear the part of the name -siskin , such as the birch siskin ( Acanthis spec. ) And the lemon siskin ( Carduelis citrinella ). The only European species of the genus Spinus is the widespread type species Siskin ( Spinus spinus ). With the exception of the Tibetan ice fish , all other species of the genus occur only on the American continent.

features

Siskins are small to medium-sized finches with mostly short, powerful, conical beaks . The body sizes vary within a range of 9 to 15 centimeters, the body weight is between 12 and 20 grams. The wingspan of most species is around 20 centimeters. The plumage of many species is strikingly colorful, but with wide variation within the genus. Species such as the Siskin and the Spruce Siskin are quite inconspicuous with their yellowish-green plumage on the top and grayish striped underside, while z. B. the tropical hooded siskin is strikingly bright red. In many species, sexual dimorphism is only pronounced in the plumage, with females tending to be less conspicuous.

The singing of many species is often chirping, crunching, and squeaking, although some Neotropical species, such as the Magellanisig, also perform more melodic singing.

Habitat and nutrition

Many species of the genus inhabit forests, but representatives of some species also use savannas, open bushland, plantations, gardens and parks. Siskins occur practically at all altitudes up to over 3000 m.

The main diet of most species is seeds and buds, but other plant foods and insects are also found as food sources.

evolution

In today's composition the genus still contains two Eurasian species and 18 American ones. According to a work by Arnaiz-Villen et al. (2012) possibly distributed in three radiations across the double continent. The Central American radiation about 5 million years ago then leads to the golden siskin and its close relatives ( English "goldfinches"). The black-breasted siskin could be quite close to the ancestor of the South American species. Radiation began about 3.5 million years ago in Central America, but could only reach South America after the closure of the Isthmus of Panama caused food plants to migrate to South America. Possibly after the Siskin (or its ancestor) colonized America about 2.7 million years ago, some of the species still widespread in North America today, including a. the closely related spruce siskin .

The black-breasted siskin ( Spinus notatus ) spreads from Panama to South America after the closure of the isthmus

Systematics

For a long time, the siskins were united with many other finch birds, including others with a name part - siskin, in the large genus Carduelis ( sensu lato ). By DNA -Untersuchungen of the mitochondrial cytochrome b , it was found that the cross-bills ( Loxia ) in this genus sl Carduelis are included. In addition, outside of the genus , the goldfinch ( Carduelis carduelis ) is most closely related to the bird called lemon girly ( Serinus citrinella ). In order to avoid paraphyly , this was classified as lemon siskin ( Carduelis citrinella ) in the same genus. Through several years of captive observations on Asian and European goldfinch subspecies and the three Chloris species, the greenfinch ( Chloris chloris ), Himalayan finch ( Chloris spinoides ) and China finch ( Chloris sinica ), it was shown that the different subspecies of the goldfinch and the three examined greenfinch species are two self-contained , without transitional forms, form separate groups of the Carduelis genus.

Ultimately, the species-rich genus Carduelis was split up in order to better reflect the relationships. The type species of the genus Carduelis , the goldfinch, remained in this genus with only two other closely related species, while a large part, mainly American birds, was separated into the re-established genus Spinus , which was described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1816 and included there the German name "Zeisige" was given.

species

Picture gallery

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German dictionary by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. 16 vols. In 32 partial volumes. Leipzig 1854–1961. List of sources Leipzig 1971.
  2. ↑ Peter Clement: Finches and Sparrows. Christopher Helm, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4081-3508-2 , p. 212.
  3. ↑ Bird songs of the genus Spinus in Xeno-Canto
  4. ^ A b A. Arnaiz-Villena, C. Areces, D. Rey, M. Enríquez-de-Salamanca, J. Alonso-Rubio, V. Ruiz-del-Valle: Three Different North American Siskin / Goldfinch Evolutionary Radiations (Genus Carduelis): Pine Siskin Green Morphs and European Siskins in America . In: The Open Ornithologist Journal . tape 5 , 2012, p. 73-81 , doi : 10.2174 / 1874453201205010073 ( PDF ).
  5. ↑ A. 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, 2001 pp. 1159-1166 ( PDF ).
  6. ^ A. Arnaiz-Villena, M. Álvarez-Tejado, V. Ruiz-del-Valle, C. García-de-la-Torre, P. Varela, MJ Recio, S. Ferre. J. Martínez-Laso: Phylogeny and rapid Northern and Southern Hemisphere speciation of goldfinches during the Miocene and Pliocene Epochs. In: Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. 54, 1998, pp. 1031-1041.
  7. ↑ Avibase Database: Lemon siskin (Carduelis citrinella) (Pallas, 1764) .
  8. ↑ Hans Rudolf Güttinger: Relationships and song structure in goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) and green relatives (Chloris spec.). In: Journal of Ornithology. Vol. 119, No. 2 / April 1978, 2005, pp. 172-190 doi: 10.1007 / BF01644587 .
  9. ^ CL Koch: System of Bavarian Zoology. Nuremberg 1816, p. 232.

Web links

Wiktionary: Zeisig  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Siskin ( Spinus )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files