Eurasian siskin
Spinus spinus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The Eurasian siskin (Spinus spinus) is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup, belonging to the family Fringillidae in the order Passeriformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass from 13.2 to 14.2 g and a wingspan of 21 cm.
Quick facts about the Eurasian siskin
The Eurasian siskin is a granivore of forest habitats with a perching lifestyle and sedentary migration behaviour. Clutches hold 4 eggs, with 2 clutches per year and an incubation period of 13 days; the IUCN lists it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 13.2 g – 14.2 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 21 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 13.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Granivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- seedssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 13 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.9 – 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the Eurasian siskin?
Photos of the Eurasian siskin
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the Eurasian siskin live?
Not recorded
What is the Eurasian siskin?
The Eurasian siskin (Spinus spinus) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is also called the European siskin, common siskin or just siskin. Other (archaic) names include black-headed goldfinch, barley bird and aberdevine. It is very common throughout Europe and Eurosiberia. It is found in forested areas, both coniferous and mixed woodland where it feeds on seeds of all kinds, especially of alder and conifers.
It can be distinguished from similar finches by its plumage colour. Its upperparts are greyish green and its underparts are grey-streaked white. Its wings are black with a striking yellow wing bar and its tail is black with yellow sides. The male has a predominantly yellow face and breast with a neat black cap. The female and young birds have a greyish-green head and no cap. It is a trusting, sociable and active bird. Its song is a pleasant mix of tweets and trills.
These birds exhibit an unusual migration pattern, migrating southwards in large numbers every few years in winter. The reasons for this behaviour are not known, but they may be related to climatic factors and, above all, the availability of food. This enables overwintering populations to thrive where food is abundant. This small finch is an acrobatic feeder and often hangs upside down like a tit. It will visit garden bird feeding stations.
From the Wikipedia article “Eurasian siskin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eurasian_siskin&oldid=1381183338), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the Eurasian siskin sound like?
Is the Eurasian siskin endangered?
The Eurasian siskin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the Eurasian siskin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyFringillidae
- genusSpinus
- SpeciesSpinus spinus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Carduelis spinus, Fringilla spinus, Spinus alnearius
Other names and names in other languages (119)
- Common siskinEnglish
- European siskinEnglish
- EUSIEnglish
- SiskinEnglish
- Spruce siskinEnglish
- سسكن شائعArabic
- حسون الشوكArabic
- سسكن أوراسيArabic
- سسكن أوربيArabic
- LucanoAragonese
- tilínAsturian
- ÚbanuAsturian
- ЖужукӀAvaric
- жиржиралAvaric
- Yalançı bülbülAzerbaijani
- Һары турғайBashkir
- ЧыжBelarusian
- Елшова скатияBulgarian
- Tarin ar wernBreton
- LluerCatalan
- lluer eurasiàticCatalan
- КӓзӓляMari
- ҪирӗктӑрриChuvash
- ÇирĕктăрриChuvash
- čížek lesníCzech
- Zwëczajny cziżikKashubian
- Pila GwyrddWelsh
- Pilaod GwyrddWelsh
- GrønsiskenDanish
- ZeisigGerman
- ErlenzeisigGerman
- ΛούγαροGreek
- Κοινό ΛούγαροGreek
- verda kardeloEsperanto
- LúganoSpanish
- Jilguero lúganoSpanish
- siisikeEstonian
- TarinBasque
- TarinaBasque
- سهره زردPersian
- vihervarpunenFinnish
- barrígðaFaroese
- Tarin des aulnesFrench
- SyskeWestern Frisian
- SiscínIrish
- gealag bhuidheScottish Gaelic
- gealagan buidheScottish Gaelic
- ÚbaloGalician
- Picaouro comúnGalician
- Corkan airheyManx
- חורפיHebrew
- csízHungarian
- ԱզնվասարեկArmenian
- TarinoIdo
- BarrfinkaIcelandic
- LucherinoItalian
- Lucherino eurasiaticoItalian
- マヒワJapanese
- სკვინჩაGeorgian
- Amenferriw awraɣKabyle
- ЧырачыуKabardian
- ШымшықKazakh
- 검은머리방울새Korean
- PeiboiKarelian
- Serstrîkê zerKurdish
- DreynekCornish
- Gréngen ZeiselLuxembourgish
- чихчихLezghian
- чІимчІирLezghian
- SieskeLimburgish
- FranguenLombard
- eurazinis alksninukasLithuanian
- AlksninukasLithuanian
- ķivulisLatvian
- казыляMari
- Елова зеленушкаMacedonian
- елова зелентаркаMacedonian
- ErkuMaltese
- Эгэл ногоолзойMongolian
- FroncilloNeapolitan
- ZieskeLow German
- कालीकण्ठे सिस्कीनNepali
- SijsDutch
- grønsisikNorwegian Nynorsk
- grønnsisikNorwegian
- Metierabasnrm
- ДзылыOssetic
- TairinPicard
- Czyż zwyczajnyPolish
- czyżPolish
- czyż (zwyczajny)Polish
- lugre-comumPortuguese
- LugrePortuguese
- lugre-eurasiáticoPortuguese
- Zaisch d'ognaRomansh
- ScatiuRomanian
- ЧижRussian
- ЧіжыкRusyn
- От күөҕэ чыычаахYakut
- Zuinu ri passuSicilian
- RuonácizášNorthern Sami
- stehlík čížikSlovak
- stehlík čížavýSlovak
- čižekSlovenian
- Cerla dimërakeAlbanian
- ČižakSerbian
- ЧижакSerbian
- grönsiskaSwedish
- Kara başlı isketeTurkish
- ШиижекTuvinian
- ӞузьыUdmurt
- чиж лісовийUkrainian
- LugarinVenetian
- Sẻ thông vàngVietnamese
- TrientjeWest Flemish
- SizetWalloon
- SeesZeelandic
- 黃雀Chinese
- 黄雀Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the Eurasian siskin
Other species in the same genus Spinus.
American goldfinch
Spinus tristis
Red siskin
Spinus cucullatus
Black siskin
Spinus atratus
Pine siskin
Spinus pinus
Lawrence's goldfinch
Spinus lawrencei
Lesser goldfinch
Spinus psaltria
CompareEurasian siskin vs American goldfinchEurasian siskin vs Red siskinEurasian siskin vs Black siskinEurasian siskin vs Pine siskin
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the Eurasian siskin?
The Eurasian siskin is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup, in the family Fringillidae and the genus Spinus.
How heavy is a Eurasian siskin?
An adult Eurasian siskin weighs from 13.2 to 14.2 g, which places it in the small size class.
What does the Eurasian siskin eat?
The Eurasian siskin is a granivore, and its trophic level is herbivore.
What habitat does the Eurasian siskin live in?
The Eurasian siskin lives in forest habitats and has a perching lifestyle.
Is the Eurasian siskin endangered?
No. The Eurasian siskin is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a Eurasian siskin live?
The lifespan of the Eurasian siskin is 13.5 years.
How many eggs does the Eurasian siskin lay?
The Eurasian siskin lays 4 eggs per clutch, with 2 clutches per year and an incubation period of 13 days.
Who named the Eurasian siskin?
The scientific name Spinus spinus is credited to (Linnaeus, 1758).
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 - 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). - 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).
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CreatureData. (2026). Eurasian siskin (Spinus spinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-siskin
“Eurasian siskin (Spinus spinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-siskin.
@misc{eurasian_siskin_2026,
title = {Eurasian siskin (Spinus spinus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-siskin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}