The European Serin (Serinus serinus) is Europe's smallest finch, a tiny, yellow-green and densely streaked bird with a fast, buzzing song, closely related to the canary. It measures only about 11-12 cm in length. The plumage is yellow-green and heavily streaked with dark markings; the male shows bright yellow on the forehead, breast and rump, while the female is duller and more streaked. The bill is short, strong and blunt, adapted to small seeds, and the short, forked tail and yellow rump are clearly visible when the bird takes flight.
The song is distinctive, a very fast, glassy, buzzing twitter often delivered from a high perch or during a fluttering song flight, while the call note is a bright, rolling "tirrillillit". Its main range lies in southern and central Europe, where it is resident or a short-distance migrant, and it has expanded its breeding range northward over the past century; Sweden sits at the very northern edge of that range, and the species occurs only sparsely and irregularly, mainly in the southernmost provinces, with most records from Skåne and along the south coast. Globally it is classed as of Least Concern, though European populations have declined in recent times. In Sweden it is a rare visitor and occasional breeder, seen mostly in spring and summer in parks, gardens and semi-open, tree-rich habitat, with breeding confirmed only on isolated occasions. It builds a small, neat cup nest high in a conifer or deciduous tree, often in a park setting, and the female lays usually 3-5 eggs, sometimes managing two broods in a good season. The diet is mostly small seeds from herbs, trees and shrubs, supplemented with insects fed to the chicks during the breeding season.
Read about this species in Swedish →