Sunday 19 May
Syrian serin (Serinus syriacus)
Syrian serin fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Syrian serin description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Fringillidae |
| Genus | Serinus (1) |
A small canary with a large head, the Syrian serin is prettily coloured with bright yellow and pale grey feathers. The eyes are large and are surrounded by a bright yellow ring. The beak is grey and the legs are pale pinkish-grey. The Syrian serin has a long trilling call, and may also chirp and twitter (2).
More »
Top
Related species
Syrian serin biology
This canary feeds on the seeds of low grasses and herbs, and visits water pools daily to drink (2). It is found in groups in the non-breeding season, but becomes monogamous and territorial once at the breeding grounds. Males court females with a song display and captive birds have been seen feeding each other as part of the courtship process. Each pair builds a nest in a tree once the snow has begun to melt in mid April to May. Four pale blue, glossy eggs are laid in May and June and the female incubates these for 12 – 14 days. The young fledge after just 14 – 16 days and the parents then move up to around 1,750 metres in July and August to produce a second clutch. When conditions are favourable the pair may have three broods (3).
TopSyrian serin range
The Syrian serin breeds not only in Syria but also in Lebanon, Israel and Jordan at altitudes of between 900 – 1,900 metres. The population in Jordan disperses locally in winter, but the birds of Lebanon, Israel and Syria migrate to wintering grounds in Egypt, Turkey and Iraq (2).
More »
Top
Species with a similar range
Syrian serin habitat
Inhabits rocky areas in open semi-arid woodland near water (2).
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Syrian serin status
The Syrian serin is classified as Vulnerable (VU C1) on the IUCN Red List 2004 (1) and is listed on the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS or Bonn Convention) (4).
Syrian serin threats
The quality of the Syrian serin’s habitat has been reduced by both natural and man-made processes. A severe drought from 1998 and 1999 resulted in poor seed production and fewer water pools, which in turn decreased survival rates and the number of breeding pairs. Compounding this problem, deforestation, grazing and drainage are being practised by humans (2).
TopSyrian serin conservation
Breeding takes place in several protected areas throughout Jordan, Israel and Lebanon, and it is monitored carefully in Jordan. However, monitoring outside Jordan is also necessary, and reversal of habitat decline throughout the range is crucial to the survival of this species (2).
|
View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. |
Find out more
For further information on this species see Cramp, S. & Perrins, C.M. (1994) Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa – Volume VIII Crows to finches. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
For more information on this and other bird species please see:
- BirdLife International:
http://www.birdlife.org
Authentication
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact: arkive@wildscreen.org.ukTopGlossary
- Monogamous
- Having only one mate during a breeding season, or throughout the breeding life of a pair.
References
- IUCN Red List (April, 2005)
http://www.redlist.org - BirdLife International (April, 2005)
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/search/species_search.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=8760&m=0 - Perrins, C.M. and Cramp, S. (1994) Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa – Volume VIII Crows to finches. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- CMS (April, 2005)
http://www.cms.int
More »Related species
This species is featured in:
This species is featured in the Mediterranean Basin eco-region
This species is featured in:
This species is affected by global climate
change. To learn about climate change
and the species that are affected,
visit our climate change pages.
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
Saturday 18 May
Friday 17 May
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.