Spinus is a genus of passerine birds in the finch family Fringillidae encompassing the Siskins and New world goldfinches.
Taxonomy The genus Spinus was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch with the type species by tautonomy as Fringilla spinus Linnaeus, 1758, the Eurasian siskin. 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 Tibetan serin is an outgroup within Spinus, having been the first to diverge. The remainder of the genus can be divided into three monophyletic clades: the North American goldfinches (Lawrence's, lesser, and American); the so-called North American siskins (Eurasian, pine, Antillean, and black-capped); and the South American siskins (the remaining 12 species).
The radiation of South American siskins was rapid, and was originally thought to have occurred around 3.5 million years ago due to a range expansion associated with the Great American Interchange and contingent upon the spread of mesothermal plants from the Rocky Mountains to the Andes. More recent work suggests the radiation occurred much later, within the last 1 million years, and speciation events may have been initiated by the climactic variations of the late Pleistocene.
The hooded siskin may be paraphyletic.
Ecology Spinus finches are gregarious and may breed and forage in small groups. In the non-breeding season, these species generally disperse away from the breeding grounds and small flocks roam nomadically in search of food; these flocks may be of one species or mixed with other species in the genus. Some species, such as the pine siskin and thick-billed siskin, are considered irruptive.
Like most other members of Carduelinae, but unusually amongst songbirds, members of Spinus are primarily granivorous, but may occasionally supplement their diet with insects or fruit. Most species eat a variety of small seeds, especially from asters, grasses, alders, and birches.
Conservation The IUCN lists 17 species as least concern, two as vulnerable (saffron siskin and yellow-faced siskin), and one, the red siskin, as endangered. Species in this clade are threatened by habitat loss and capture for the cage-bird trade.
Species The genus contains 20 species: Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Tibetan serin Spinus thibetanus Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal American goldfinch Spinus 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 goldfinch Spinus lawrenceiCalifornia and Baja California, winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico Lesser goldfinch Spinus psaltriathe southwestern United States (near the coast, as far north as extreme southwestern Washington) to Venezuela and Peru Eurasian siskin Spinus spinus Eurasia and North Africa Antillean siskin Spinus dominicensis Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) Pine siskin Spinus pinusCanada, Alaska and, to a more variable degree, across the western mountains and northeastern parts of the United States Black-capped siskin Spinus atriceps Mexico and Guatemala Black-headed siskin Spinus notatusMexico, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua Black-chinned siskin Spinus barbatus Chile, Argentina and the Falkland Islands Yellow-bellied siskin Spinus xanthogastrus Costa Rica south to southern Ecuador, central Bolivia and the highlands of northwestern Venezuela Olivaceous siskin Spinus olivaceusnorthern Peru to La Paz and Cochabamba in Bolivia and to southeastern Ecuador; has also been observed east of the Andes near Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia Hooded siskin Spinus magellanicuscentral Argentina north to central Brazil Saffron siskin Spinus siemiradzkii Ecuador and Peru Yellow-faced siskin Spinus yarrellii Brazil and Venezuela Red siskin Spinus cucullatusnorthern Colombia and northern Venezuela Black siskin Spinus atratusChile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru Yellow-rumped siskin Spinus uropygialis Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru Thick-billed siskin Spinus crassirostrisChile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru Andean siskin Spinus spinescens Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela
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