Spinus spinus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Eurasian siskin (Spinus spinus) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is also called the European siskin, common siskin or just siskin. Other (archaic) names include black-headed goldfinch, barley bird and aberdevine. It is very common throughout Europe and Eurosiberia. It is found in forested areas, both coniferous and mixed woodland where it feeds on seeds of all kinds, especially of alder and conifers.
It can be distinguished from similar finches by its plumage colour. Its upperparts are greyish green and its underparts are grey-streaked white. Its wings are black with a striking yellow wing bar and its tail is black with yellow sides. The male has a predominantly yellow face and breast with a neat black cap. The female and young birds have a greyish-green head and no cap. It is a trusting, sociable and active bird. Its song is a pleasant mix of tweets and trills.
These birds exhibit an unusual migration pattern, migrating southwards in large numbers every few years in winter. The reasons for this behaviour are not known, but they may be related to climatic factors and, above all, the availability of food. This enables overwintering populations to thrive where food is abundant. This small finch is an acrobatic feeder and often hangs upside down like a tit. It will visit garden bird feeding stations. Wikipedia →
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beijing Wildlife Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Ueno Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 3 | Tierpark Hexentanzplatz | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Ueno Zoological Gardens (West Garden) | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 5 | Zoopark Limpopo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 6 | Vogelpark Heiligenkirchen | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Eurasian Siskin sighting in Mercantour National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 55th most-seen of the 79 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Eurasian Siskin in Mercantour National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May and July–August, the lowest months. That is one of Mercantour National Park's wettest months, with about 140 mm of rain against 50 mm in August. March and November–January have too few records to rate.
Between 4 and 7 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eurasian Siskin sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
14th of 30
Of the 30 parks where we can rate Eurasian Siskin sightings, Mercantour National Park ranks 14th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cairngorms National Park (United Kingdom, about 60%), Tatra National Park (Slovakia, about 30%) and Gauja National Park (Latvia, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Fringillidae
The closest relatives of the Eurasian Siskin that you can see in Mercantour National Park (family Fringillidae, Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) are Chaffinch (about 70%), Linnet (about 50%) and Eurasian Goldfinch (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eurasian Siskin is recorded against all the birds logged in Mercantour National Park (15 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
