Siskin

Spinus spinus

Description:

Small, discreet but attractive finch, slightly smaller than sparrow. Male (pics N° 1, 2, 3 and 5) is of an golden yellow appearance overall - it sports bright yellow breast, face, rump and wing bars; with black crown. Rest of the body is whitish-brown. Female (pic N° 4) is more discreet, and does not show that much yellow.

Habitat:

Very discreet bird, likes hiding in the canopy - here, observed in a protected marshy woodlands, mainly broadleaved woods. Marshes are at outskirts of a small town, in Geneva lake valley, at feet of Jura range.

Notes:

Apparently, earlier it was the counted as Carduelis spinus (in all of my books for example), while these days I'm finding it under new genus, Spinus sp.