Bird Guide

Hooded Siskin vs Yellow-bellied Siskin

Hooded Siskin (Spinus magellanicus)

Hooded Siskin

Spinus magellanicus

Tiny14 gShrubland

The hooded siskin is 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in) long. and weighs about 11 g (0.39 oz). The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males of the nominate subspecies S. m. magellanicus have an entirely black head, throat, and upper breast. They have a bright yellow collar on the nape and the sides of their neck. Their lower nape, back, and scapulars are olive green with faint dark streaks. Their rump is bright yellow and their uppertail coverts are olive green. Their tail is mostly black with wide deep yellow edges on all but the innermost pair of feathers. Their wings have a complicated pattern. Voice: The hooded siskin typically sings from an open perch and also in flight; it sings for long periods. Its song is "a varied series of rapid short twittering tseet-tseet, tseet-weet, or tseet-weet-a-weeta interspersed with repeated phrases; several males often sing in concert". Its calls include "a light or lilting djey, djey; tseeu; and a long trilling trrrrrr".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Hooded Siskin
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Song · Azuay: upper Yunguilla Valley, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Gonzalo Roget · CC BY 4.0
Yellow-bellied Siskin (Spinus xanthogastrus)

Yellow-bellied Siskin

Spinus xanthogastrus

Tiny13 gForest

The yellow-bellied siskin is 10 to 11.5 cm (3.9 to 4.5 in) long and weighs about 11 to 14 g (0.39 to 0.49 oz). The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a glossy black head, chin, breast, and upperparts. Their tail is mostly glossy black with yellow bases to the outer feathers. Their wings are mostly glossy black with bright yellow bases on the primaries and secondaries. Their lower breast, belly, and undertail coverts are bright yellow with an olive tinge on the flanks. Voice: One description of the yellow-bellied siskin's song is "a fast, bubbly ser. of twitters, buzzy notes, and musical sputterings, almost as if randomly generated". It is "complex and usually with a few high, thin notes mixed with low nasal notes". Its calls include "thin or high-pitched pee or pyee and harsher bziee" notes.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Emily Franzen · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Hooded Siskin and Yellow-bellied Siskin.