Eurasian Siskin

• If the conifer seed crop is generous it may start laying in late winter; if it is poor, it delays laying until May and produces a single brood.
• The chicks are fed by the male alone for the first seven days, and by both parents the following week.
• Its resident populations in Spain are very small: it is essentially a winter visitor, with irregular irruptions from year to year.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

As a breeder, mountain woodland, above all conifers. In winter it moves in flocks through alder groves and other riverside woodland, and mixes with other finches across farmland, stubble and open country

Sexual maturity

12 months

Gestation / incubation

11 - 14 days

Litter / clutch size

3-5 very pale blue eggs with ochre, pink, reddish or purple spots, in a cup-shaped nest of lichen, moss and wool placed high in conifer branches. It may have two broods

Sources consulted: SEO/BirdLife (ficha jilguero lúgano y III Atlas); IUCN Red List; Asturnatura

Best time: From October to March, when the wintering contingents arrive; in some winters with very large irruptions