Serinus

Serinus is a genus of small birds in the finch family Fringillidae found in West Asia, Europe and Africa. The birds usually have some yellow in their plumage. The genus was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Its name is Neo-Latin for "canary-yellow".<ref name =job>Template:Cite book</ref>

Many species were at one time assigned to the genus but it became clear from phylogenetic studies of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences that the genus was polyphyletic.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This was confirmed by Dario Zuccon and coworkers in a comprehensive study of the finch family published in 2012. The authors suggested splitting the genus into two monophyletic groups, a proposal that was accepted by the International Ornithologists' Union. The genus Serinus was restricted to the European serin and seven other species while a larger clade from Africa and Arabia was assigned to the resurrected genus Crithagra.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=iou>Template:Cite web</ref>

The genus contains eight species:<ref name=iou/>

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	Serinus pusillus	Red-fronted serin	Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and Palestine
	Serinus serinus	European serin	southern and central Europe and North Africa
	Serinus syriacus	Syrian serin	Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Saudi Arabia
	Serinus canaria	Atlantic canary	the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira
	Serinus canicollis	Cape canary	southern Africa
	Serinus flavivertex	Yellow-crowned canary	eastern Africa
	Serinus nigriceps	Ethiopian siskin	Ethiopia
	Serinus alario	Black-headed canary	Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa

External links

• Serin videos, photos and sounds on the Internet Bird Collection