Red-fronted Serin

Serinus pusillus (Pallas, 1811)

11–12 cmLength12 gWeight

This small finch has a red forehead and a smoky-black forebody, and forages in small flocks among thistles in the non-breeding season.

Busiest months: May · Most records: Georgia, Kazakhstan, China

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Forehead red
Forebody, including head and breast, smoky-black
Very small, with a body length of 11–12 cm

Male, female and young

Juvenile has a pale yellowish-brown head.

Voice

A rapid, shrill “titihihihihihi”.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: May · Most records: Georgia, Kazakhstan, China

Red-fronted Serin has been recorded at 55 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 13 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Mt. Kuro slopesGeorgia490 records
Ile Alatau NP – Big Almaty LakeKazakhstan141 records
Ile-Alatau NP – Tien-Shan Astronomical ObservatoryKazakhstan77 records

More places

Ile-Alatau NPKazakhstan70 records
West Aspen ValleyChina68 records
Besh Barmag bottleneckAzerbaijan56 records
Ponichala ReserveGeorgia44 records
Kumisi ReservoirGeorgia29 records
Aras Kuş Halkalama İstasyonuTürkiye26 records
PangotIndia26 records

Countries and regions with the most records

Georgia Kazakhstan China Azerbaijan Kyrgyzstan India Türkiye Uzbekistan

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The red-fronted serin or fire-fronted serin (Serinus pusillus) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It prefers high mountain regions and is 11–12 cm (4.3–4.7 in) long.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Red-fronted Serin?

The Red-fronted Serin is about 11–12 cm long and weighs around 12 g.

Where does the Red-fronted Serin live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: south-central temperate Palearctic in montane forest edge and alpine scrub: Turkey and Caucasus through northern Iran and southern Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and southeastern Kazakhstan to northwestern Xinjiang (northwestern China) and southwestern Mongolia; in south to south-central Iran, northern Baluchistan (north-central Pakistan) and western Himalayas to southwestern Tibet and west-central Nepal. It is most often recorded in Georgia, Kazakhstan and China.

When is the best time to see the Red-fronted Serin?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in May (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Red-fronted Serin endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Red-fronted Serin as Least Concern.

What does the Red-fronted Serin eat?

Main food: Seeds.

What family is the Red-fronted Serin in?

It belongs to the family Finches, Euphonias (Fringillidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).

At a glance

Length: 11–12 cm
Weight: 12 g
Habitat: Rocky terrain
Diet: Seeds
Lifestyle: Active on the ground
Migration: Partial migrant
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 73 mm
Tail: 51 mm
Bill: 10 mm
Tarsus: 14 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Palearctic: south-central temperate Palearctic in montane forest edge and alpine scrub: Turkey and Caucasus through northern Iran and southern Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and southeastern Kazakhstan to northwestern Xinjiang (northwestern China) and southwestern Mongolia; in south to south-central Iran, northern Baluchistan (north-central Pakistan) and western Himalayas to southwestern Tibet and west-central Nepal

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2