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Fire-fronted Serin Serinus pusillus Scientific name definitions

Peter Clement
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 4, 2014

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Field Identification

10·5–13 cm; 9·5–13·5 g. Small finch with short, stubby bill, tail forked at tip. Male has bright red to deep orange circular or oval patch on forehead ; rest of head to nape and chin to upper breast sooty black, upperparts blackish with broad yellowish or golden-buff feather edges, rump bright yellow or yellowish-tan, becoming darker on upper­tail-coverts, tail dark brown, narrowly edged orange to golden; upperwing-coverts dark brown, edged warmer brown to buffish-brown, medians tipped pale orange, greaters tipped slightly paler buffish-yellow on inners (forming two wingbars); flight-feathers and tertials dark brown, finely edged yellowish-orange to golden (paler buff on secondaries); lower breast and belly yellowish, whiter on undertail-coverts , centre of breast to flanks streaked sooty black, becoming more broken streaks on belly; underwing-coverts pale yellowish-white; iris dark brown or black; bill and legs dark brown or black. Female  is like male but duller, with often only a thin red strip or patch on forehead and black of head to back duller or brownish-black, hindcrown and nape may have paler grey edges, and black less extensive (looks more yellowish) on mantle, back and breast. Both sexes non-breeding are paler, with forehead patch duller and more reddish-orange, and ashy or buffish feather edges and tips on head and throat. Juvenile  has forehead to nape, face  and side of neck rust-brown, darker crown and ear-coverts, blackish-brown upperparts more heavily streaked than on adult, with broad pale buffish or yellowish-brown edges (but rump as on adult), scapulars and tips of greater coverts may be gingery brown, rest of wing similar to that of adult, except for white or yellowish-buff tips on median and greater coverts and primaries finely edged golden-yellow, tail has bright yellow edges on all outer feathers, chin and throat pale buff-brown, underparts brown or washed light orange, except for yellowish belly and flanks; first-winter has dark brown head and face, sometimes some red tips on forehead, and throat black on male and brown on female, tertials edged whitish-buff.

Systematics History

Relationships previously considered uncertain, but is now believed to be sister to S. syriacus (1). Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

NW, CS, E & NE Turkey E to S Caucasus, N Iraq, W, N & SE Iran, and S Turkmenistan E to SE Kazakhstan (Tarbagatai Range, Dzhungarskiy Alatau and Tien Shan) and NW & W Xinjiang, SW Tibet and S to NW, C & E Afghanistan and N Indian Subcontinent (NW & N Pakistan E to C Nepal). Non-breeding also S to Lebanon, N Israel, and SW Syria.

Habitat

Breeds in montane and submontane forests of birch (Betula), pine (Pinus), juniper (Juniperus), spruce (Picea), willows (Salix) and larch (Larix), usually at or towards edge of forest, rarely in dense areas; also dwarf junipers and scattered barberry (Berberis) scrub on open hillsides and above tree-line, rhododendrons (Rhododendron), on scree slopes, alpine and subalpine meadows, ravines and upper edges of steep valleys; at 600–3000 m in Caucasus, 1500–3300 m in C & E Turkey, 2300–3300 m in Afghanistan and 2000–4700 m in Himalayas. In non-breeding season in similar habitat at lower levels, down to 1370–3300 m, also in orchards and gardens at edges of human settlements, including large towns and villages, scattered trees on hillsides with low scrub, river valleys, rocky wadis and edges of cultivation.

Movement

Resident and migratory. Post-breeding dispersal away from breeding areas, mostly by juveniles, in late Jul–Aug. Also an altitudinal migrant, moving to lower valleys and adjacent foothills in non-breeding season from mid-Sept to early Mar or mid-Apr: those breeding in Caucasus and C Asia E to Kazakhstan, NW China and N Pakistan descend to lower levels in foothills and adjacent plains, frequent in towns and villages (including Almaty, in Kazakhstan), numbers moving largely dependent on severity of weather at higher altitudes, and lowest areas of non-breeding range usually deserted by mid-Mar, movements beyond 70 km exceptional but sometimes reaches Chu and Ili river valleys, and Oct record in SW Mongolia; in W Pamirs moves down from highest levels, immatures usually moving slightly farther than adults. Those in C Turkey move S or SW beyond breeding range to winter in S Turkey (reaching coastal lowlands and Chios I) and irregularly E & S to Lebanon (passage late Oct to late Nov, winters early Dec to early Feb, return passage mid Feb to late Mar), N Iraq and S Iran; in N & C Israel rare on passage between end Oct and end Dec, and rare or locally uncommon winter visitor above 800 m (but occasional winter influxes at certain sites), return passage early Feb to mid-Mar, occasionally present in wintering areas to mid-Apr. In Iran small numbers occur in lowlands around Caspian in winter. Vagrant in Cyprus, Greece, Jordan and Egypt; individual in Austria thought very probably an escape, and occurrences elsewhere in Europe (e.g. British Is) considered also to originate from captivity.

Diet and Foraging

Mainly seeds  , shoots, flowerheads and fruits, together with small numbers of insects. Takes seeds  of variety of trees, including alder (Alnus), birch, spruce, juniper, willow, larch, mulberry (Morus), Prunus eburnia, also those of various alpine plants, including wild rose (Rosa) and docks (Rumex), chickweed (Stellaria), barberry, kale (Crambe), shepherd's-purse (Capsella), rocket (Sisymbrium), lady's-mantle (Alchemilla), rest-harrow (Ononis), St John's wort (Hypericum), thistles (Carduus, Cirsium), fleabane (Inula), wormwood (Artemisia), dandelion (Taraxacum), salsify (Tragopogon), viper's-grass (Scorzonera), also several species of Asteraceae, including Saussurea and Cousinia, and a variety of grasses (Gramineae); also shoots of conifers. Insects include aphids (Aphidoidea). Forages mostly on ground at woodland edges, on also open screes, meadows and open windblown boulderfields, actively, moving with short hops; perches on plants and grasses to reach seedheads. Also in branches, where hangs upside-down to reach birch catkins, and on tops of trees, but prefers dead branches, stones or boulders. Usually in pairs and in small groups of up to 30 individuals; post-breeding flocks may be mostly of males; in C Asia flocks sometimes of 200–300 individuals, exceptionally up to several thousands by early winter (from early Sept), often in company with other finches.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song  , often from tops of trees, bushes or similar prominent perch, also in flight, a rapid series of melodious rippling trills interspersed with softer twittering and hoarse notes and frequently repeated phrases, "tsi-tsu-teeh-tsi tit-tit-tit-tit-tit"; similar to that of S. serinus, but in general quality reminiscent also of Carduelis carduelis song. Calls  include rapid, ringing and rippling "trillit-drillt", usually given repeatedly in flight and also from tops of trees, also a soft "dueet" or "tuueet" and more drawn-out twittering "bri-ihihihihi"; foraging flocks on ground emit soft, continuous twittering.

 

Breeding

Season Apr–Aug; two broods, in Kazakhstan usually only one. Monogamous; pair-forming usually occurs in dispersing winter flocks. Solitary and semi-colonial, with nests 4–5 m apart. Some evidence of fidelity to breeding site, as ringed birds retrapped in same area five years later. Territorial. Several males may competitively display simultaneously to female; in presence of female displaying male sings with crown and forehead feathers prominently raised, wings drooped and partly spread and tail slightly raised, and may swivel body to left and right; also courtship-feeds female prior to copulation. Nest built by female, occasionally helped by male, a neat, compact cup of dry grasses, strips of bark, plant fibres and down, moss, lichen, feathers and cobwebs, placed low down in bush or higher on branch or in fork, or against trunk 1·5–9 m from ground in conifer (mainly spruce), or on rock crevice, on cliff ledge or in hole in scree. Clutch 3–5 eggs, bluish-white, sparsely flecked, blotched or scrawled with pink or reddish-brown or purple; incubation by female alone, period 11–16 days; chicks fed and cared for by both parents, nestling period 14–16 days; young  independent at 3–4 weeks, but still fed by parents at up to 5 weeks. Breeding success not well known, but often high rate of failure owing to infertile eggs, poor weather and predation; of 25 nests in Kazakhstan study, 60% produced no young, predation of nearly 50% mainly by Common Magpie (Pica pica) and squirrels (Sciuridae). Breeds in first year.

Not globally threatened. Common or locally common, uncommon in W & NW China; locally common in NW Himalayas in winter. No estimate of total population available; between 10,000 and 100,000 pairs in Turkey. Population densities in W & C Caucasus ranging from 116 birds/km2 in edges of cultivation, 67 birds/km2 in pine forest, 37 birds/km2 in upper forest zone and 39 birds/km2 of river valley down to 2–5 birds/km2 in subalpine meadows. In SE Kazakhstan has declined since late 1960s as a result of trapping for cagebird trade.

Distribution of the Fire-fronted Serin - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Fire-fronted Serin

Recommended Citation

Clement, P. (2020). Fire-fronted Serin (Serinus pusillus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.fifser1.01
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