Eurasian siskin

    Carduelis spinus

Castilian: Lúgano

Catalan: Lluer

Gallego: Úbalo

Euskera: Tarina

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Fringillidae

Migratory status: Winter resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

Its principal threat is agricultural intensification and hunting with nets or birdlime.

Length / size: 12 cm / 20-23 cm

Identification: Small bird with a short and thin bill, with a colour pattern similar to the serins and greenfinches. It has yellow spots on its wings and on its short and notched tail; the yellow on its belly diminishes towards the underparts, which are lighter; and its sides are speckled by brown bands. The male's crown and throat are black.

Song: Its call is a kind of whistle, "cheee". The male's song has chirping notes that sound like trills, "chwee chwee chwee".

Diet: It feeds on seeds from pines, alders, birches, elms, and other herbaceous trees, which it complements with insects, especially during breeding season.

Reproduction: The breeding period begins in April. They position the nest in high branches in coniferous trees and use lichens, moss and wool to make a kind of cup-shaped nest. The female is responsible for incubation; the male feeds the chicks during the first week and after than both parents continue to feed the chicks.

HABITAT

It shows a preference for coniferous mountain forests. In winter it is present in lower open areas where there is farmland nearby.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: In spring, its distribution is limited to the Pyrenees and specific parts of the Cantabrian Mountains and the Iberian and Central Systems. In autumn and winter, it is more distrubuted throughout the region.

In Castile and León: When wintering, it is common in all the provinces, but its breeding is sporadic and limited to specific places in northern León and Sierra de Guararrama.

Movements and migrations: Its movements are conditioned by the availability of food and reproductive success. The arrival of European speciments increases the peninsula's wintering populations.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 300 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: