Citril Finch; Verdecillo Serrano

Description:

At first thought this was a male Serin until I looked closely at the photograph. They do live in the mountains to the north of us and are usually found above 1200 metres, though they are known to move to lower ground in winter, mixing with other finches and feeding on the ground on pine seeds. We have the necessary pine trees in our gardens. The fires of 2012 likely destroyed much of their habitat as the tops of all our mountains are now bare whereas previously they were covered in pine trees. A lifer for me, this one came a close second for my 9,000.

Habitat:

Garden

Notes:

Formerly classified as Serinus citrinella