Tibetan serin

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Tibetan serin
Tibetan Siskin Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary 11.03.2013.jpg
Female Tibetan serin from Varsey Rhododendron Sanctuary, Sikkim, India

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Subfamily: Carduelinae
Genus: Spinus
Species:
S. thibetanus
Binomial name
Spinus thibetanus
(Hume, 1872)

The Tibetan serin (Spinus thibetanus) or Tibetan siskin is a true finch species (family Fringillidae).

Taxonomy and systematics[]

The Tibetan serin was formerly placed in the genus Serinus but was assigned to the genus Spinus based on a phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences.[2][3]

Female (♀) from Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, West Sikkim, India

The first description of the species was by the British ornithologist Allan Octavian Hume in 1872 under the binomial name Chrysomitris thibetanus.[4] In the 19th century, it was also referred to as the Sikkim siskin.[5] At that time, the Lepcha of Sikkim referred to it as tŭk nyil nyón ('fierce wormwood').[6]

Description[]

Length (including the tail) of this species is around 12 cm (4.7 in). The Tibetan siskin lacks yellow panels on its wings in all plumages. Adult males have olive-greenish upper parts, yellow underparts, yellowish-green rumps, yellow supercilium and border behind ear-coverts. Wing and tail feathers of this bird species are broadly differentiated by a yellowish-green color. Adult females of this species have black streaking on darker greyish-green upper parts, more clearly defined wing-bars than their male counterparts, paler yellowish throats and black-flanked breasts with streaking. Juveniles are duller green, tinged brownish-buff on upper parts, with duller rumps, buff fringes to greater coverts and paler or heavily streaked underparts.

Distribution[]

This species is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It spends the winter in the central and eastern Himalayas. A group of birders from West Bengal discovered its presence in Hee Village near Varsey Rhododendron Sanctuary, Sikkim, India in the month of March 2013.

Habitat[]

Tibetan serins generally breed in mixed forest and spend their winter in alder.

Voice[]

Their soft chattering sound is much like twang twang.

References[]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Spinus thibetanus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22720069A94656586. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22720069A94656586.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Finches, euphonias". World Bird List Version 5.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  3. ^ Zuccon, Dario; Prŷs-Jones, Robert; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Ericson, Per G.P. (2012). "The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 62 (2): 581–596. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.002. PMID 22023825.
  4. ^ Hume, Allan Octavian (1872). "Description of six new species of Indian birds". Ibis. 3rd series. 14 (2): 107–111. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1872.tb06136.x.
  5. ^ Blanford, W.T (1890). The Fauna Of British India. 2. p. 244.
  6. ^ Mainwaring, G.B. (1898). Dictionary of the Lepcha-Language. pp. 129–130.


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