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Project Noah Nature School
Carduelis citrinella
This is a small greenish-yellowish passerine, smaller than a sparrow, and easily confused with Serin or Siskin. A male has a general greenish appearance, but the belly, throat, face and flanks are yellow with green shades. The back is olive green and the head and neck are grey. There are two yellow wing bars on wings. The bill is short and conical, typical of small granivores. Sexes are similar, except that colours are duller in a female bird.
Seen on alpine pastures/shrubland of Jura Mountain Range, at some 1700 m of altitude, on borders with coniferous forests. The spot where I saw it is also on borders of a highly protected area, one of Natural Reserves in Jura Range. Otherwise, the species has a very limited range, occurring in mountains of Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria only.
Sorry about the pics quality, I had to shoot against all that reflecting lights; but since the species is rare I had to include it here. This was only the second time I saw it, both time high in these mountains.
Spotted on Mar 22, 2022
Submitted on Jun 28, 2022
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