CreatureData

Forest canary

Crithagra scotops Sundevall, 1850

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The forest canary (Crithagra scotops) is a species in the family Fringillidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 14.2 g to 15.4 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Forest canary (Crithagra scotops)
Photo: Wilferd Duckitt from Darling, South Africa · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the forest canary

Weight
14.2 g – 15.4 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2.8 – 2.9src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the forest canary live?

Not recorded

What is the forest canary?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The forest canary (Crithagra scotops) is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae.

It is found in South Africa and Eswatini.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

The forest canary was formerly placed in the genus Serinus but phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences found that the genus was polyphyletic. The genus was therefore split and a number of species including the forest canary were moved to the resurrected genus Crithagra.

From the Wikipedia article “Forest canary” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Forest_canary&oldid=1380728922), 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.

Is the forest canary endangered?

The forest canary is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the forest canary classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyFringillidae
  6. genusCrithagra
  7. SpeciesCrithagra scotops Sundevall, 1850

Synonyms Dendrospiza scotops, Serinus scotops, Serinus scotops pondoensis

Other names and names in other languages (34)
  • FOCAEnglish
  • Gestreepte KanarieAfrikaans
  • رقاح الغاباتArabic
  • كناري الغاباتArabic
  • gafarró forestalCatalan
  • zvonohlík lesníCzech
  • KapsiskenDanish
  • WaldgirlitzGerman
  • SchwarzkinngirlitzGerman
  • arbara serinoEsperanto
  • Serín forestalSpanish
  • mets-koldvintEstonian
  • قناری جنگلیPersian
  • metsähemppoFinnish
  • Serin forestierFrench
  • Crithagre forestierFrench
  • šumska žutaricaCroatian
  • erdei csicsörkeHungarian
  • Canarino di forestaItalian
  • モリカナリアJapanese
  • miškinis svilikėlisLithuanian
  • BoskanarieDutch
  • skogiriskNorwegian
  • afrokulczyk leśnyPolish
  • canário-da-florestaPortuguese
  • Лесной канареечникRussian
  • Лесной канареечный вьюрокRussian
  • kanárik lesnýSlovak
  • Šumski kanarinacSerbian
  • skogssiskaSwedish
  • Orman İsketesiTurkish
  • щедрик лісовийUkrainian
  • 黃眉林絲雀Chinese
  • 黄眉林丝雀Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the forest canary

Other species in the same genus Crithagra.

CompareForest canary vs Yellow-fronted canaryForest canary vs Yellow canaryForest canary vs Black-throated canaryForest canary vs Drakensberg siskin

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the forest canary?

An adult forest canary weighs 14.2 g – 15.4 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the forest canary endangered?

The forest canary is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the forest canary?

The forest canary (Crithagra scotops) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Forest canary (Crithagra scotops). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-canary

MLA

“Forest canary (Crithagra scotops).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-canary.

BibTeX
@misc{forest_canary_2026,
  title = {Forest canary (Crithagra scotops)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-canary},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}