Eurasian Siskin
Spinus spinus
Also known as: Siskin, European Siskin
About This Species
This small, streaky finch favours conifer and alder stands, where flocks cling acrobatically to cones and catkins, often hanging upside down to extract seeds. Its wheezy, twittering calls usually give away a feeding flock before the birds themselves are spotted moving high in the canopy. Winter is the best season to see larger numbers, when siskins form mixed flocks with redpolls and visit garden feeders in years of poor cone crops.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Feeding flocks are easily flushed from treetops, so watching quietly from a distance with binoculars gives better views than approaching the trees directly.
- Wild birds are protected from deliberate disturbance under national wildlife laws across their European range, with specific provisions varying by country.
- Garden feeder-watching is a low-disturbance way to enjoy this species without pressuring wild foraging flocks.
LCAvesPasseriformesFringillidae
Seasonal Activity
2,702,202 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.