Spinus (genus)


Spinus is a genus of passerine birds in the finch family. It contains the North and South American siskins and goldfinches, as well as two Old World species. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek spínos, a name for a now-unidentifiable bird.
All of the species in the genus, except for the Tibetan serin, were formerly included in the genus Carduelis. They were moved to the resurrected genus Spinus based on phylogenetic studies of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. The Tibetan serin was formerly placed in the genus Serinus. The Eurasian siskin and the Tibetan serin are the only species from the Old World included in the group.
The genus Spinus was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch with the Eurasian siskin as the type species.

Species

The genus contains 20 species:
ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
Tibetan serinSpinus thibetanusBhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.
American goldfinchSpinus tristismid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canada–United States border to Mexico during the winter
Lawrence's goldfinchSpinus lawrenceiCalifornia and Baja California and winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico
Lesser goldfinchSpinus psaltriasouthwestern United States to Venezuela and Peru
Eurasian siskinSpinus spinusEurasia and the north of Africa
Antillean siskinSpinus dominicensisHaiti and the Dominican Republic
Pine siskinSpinus pinusCanada, Alaska and, to a more variable degree, across the western mountains and northern parts of the United States
Black-capped siskinSpinus atricepsGuatemala and Mexico
Black-headed siskinSpinus notataBelize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua
Black-chinned siskinSpinus barbataArgentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands
Yellow-bellied siskinSpinus xanthogastraCosta Rica south to southern Ecuador, central Bolivia and the highlands of northwestern Venezuela
Olivaceous siskinSpinus olivaceanorthern Peru to La Paz and Cochabamba in Bolivia and to southeastern Ecuador, and has also been observed east of the Andes near Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia
Hooded siskinSpinus magellanicacentral Argentina north to central Brazil
Saffron siskinSpinus siemiradzkiiEcuador and Peru
Yellow-faced siskinSpinus yarrelliiBrazil and Venezuela
Red siskinSpinus cucullatanorthern Colombia and northern Venezuela
Black siskinSpinus atrataArgentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru
Yellow-rumped siskinSpinus uropygialisArgentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru
Thick-billed siskinSpinus crassirostrisArgentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru-
Andean siskinSpinus spinescensColombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela