Scientific name:
Serinus

Natural spread:
Africa, Europe

the species-rich type Girlitze forms the type-group of the crimson-bullfinches from the family of the finches together with 8 further types. 27 of the altogether 30 types are widespread in Africa. In Europe, only 2 types, the Girlitz (Serinus serinus) and the Zitronengirlitz (Serinus citrinella), live named also lemon-finch or Zitronenzeisig. Also our most popular cage-bird, the canary (Serinus canaria), belongs to the same type.

Habitat The Girlitze find the suitable habitat in open landscapes with individually standing bushes or tree-groups in general, in the moorland, in the mountains or in bushes and thickets at water-runs, also culture-country and gardens likes to look for it. Many types live sociably and occur quite in large numbers here and there, others lives in pairs or in small flights.

Reproduction The brood-period begins in the south in March, in the north as well in May. Light forests become as brood-precincts, hedges, olive-groves, vineyards and gardens prefers. From high tree-tops, the males recite its attention getting-chant, that is described as fast, clinking and buzzing twitter. They let the wings on this occasion hung and rotate around its own axis as come up. If chant here-lured a female for it, so they lie down flatly on the branch, rotate further, however, and resist the Kehlfedern, spreads the tail, suddenly throws up itself into the air, flies around its tree tottering and repeats the total from the front. Other males are expelled from the precinct for a very long time until the female broods firmly.

The bowl-shaped nest is positioned 2-4 m high over the ground only by the female in a bush or tree in a small branch-fork. It is carefully built from stems, roots, moss and lichens and is padded with hair and feathers. Normally, only the female hatches the 3-4 eggs for 13 days. The thin bedunten nest-stools must still be looked after by both alto-birds then approximately for 20 days, until they became independent. 2 yearly-broods are reared. In the connection with the incubation, the birds live together again sociably.

Girlitz (Serinus serinus)) it is a part-pickpocket and lives in northwest-Africa, south and Central Europe as well as Asia Minor. Before the 19. Century was not the Girlitz represented in Central Europe yet, however, it advances into the Baltic Sea*-countries northward meanwhile on and on. In it, it however far more frequently is represented Mediterranean-countries, here also the northern brood-birds spend the winter.

The Girlitz is the smallest representative (11,5 cm of length) of the European finches, its plumage is yellow-green and roved gloomily, the male has breast yellow a shining. The short and thick beak is characteristic.

Zitronengirlitz (Serinus citrinella)) it has a very much split spread-area and lives mainly in means and Southern Europe's wooded mountain-zones. Here, it lives from the seeds of the spruces and firs. it gets out it from the taps with its beak like with a tweezers. In the winter, it is frequent to find in protected valleys of the South-Alps in assorted troops with Birkenzeisigen and Zeisigen.