Cape canary
Serinus canicollis (Swainson, 1838)
Status not recordedsongbirds
The cape canary (Serinus canicollis) is a species in the family Fringillidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh about 15.2 g.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the cape canary
- Weight
- 15.2 g
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Granivore
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrubland
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.2
- Lifestyle
- Generalist
- Migration
- Sedentary
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the cape canary live?
Not recorded
Is the cape canary endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the cape canary classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyFringillidae
- genusSerinus
- SpeciesSerinus canicollis (Swainson, 1838)
Synonyms Coccothraustes moreli, Crithagra canicollis, Pronospiza canicollis
Other names and names in other languages (31)
- Kaapse KanarieAfrikaans
- Капско канарчеBulgarian
- gafarró del CapCatalan
- zvonohlík šedokrkýCzech
- caneri’r PenrhynWelsh
- Grånakket SiskenDanish
- GelbscheitelgirlitzGerman
- grizkola serinoEsperanto
- Serín dorsigrísSpanish
- aed-koldvintEstonian
- harmaaniskahemppoFinnish
- Serin du CapFrench
- kapska žutaricaCroatian
- szürkenyakú csicsörkeHungarian
- Canarino del CapoItalian
- キガシラカナリアJapanese
- geltonvainikis svilikėlisLithuanian
- GrijsnekkanarieDutch
- krattiriskNorwegian
- kulczyk siwoszyiPolish
- canário-de-nuca-cinzentaPortuguese
- Moutardierrcf
- Капский вьюрокRussian
- kanárik sivokrkýSlovak
- Kapski kanarinacSerbian
- grånackad siskaSwedish
- Kap KanaryasıTurkish
- щедрик сивошиїйUkrainian
- 南非丝雀Chinese
- Шафранношапочный канареечный вьюрокRussian
- 黃頂絲雀Chinese
Relatives of the cape canary
Other species in the same genus Serinus.

Atlantic canary
Serinus canaria

European serin
Serinus serinus
Red-fronted serin
Serinus pusillus
Syrian serin
Serinus syriacus
Blackheaded canary
Serinus alario
Ethiopian siskin
Serinus nigriceps
CompareCape canary vs Atlantic canaryCape canary vs European serinCape canary vs Red-fronted serinCape canary vs Syrian serin
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the cape canary?
An adult cape canary weighs 15.2 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the cape canary?
The cape canary (Serinus canicollis) belongs to the family Fringillidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Cape canary (Serinus canicollis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cape-canary
“Cape canary (Serinus canicollis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/cape-canary.
@misc{cape_canary_2026,
title = {Cape canary (Serinus canicollis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cape-canary},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}