Birda Logo
Features
Birda+
About
Species Guide
Challenges
Shop
loading...

Yellow-bellied Siskin

Spinus xanthogastrus

The Yellow-bellied Siskin, Spinus xanthogastrus, presents a striking contrast in plumage. The male is cloaked in a glossy black, save for his vivid yellow belly, tail sides, and wing patches. The female, more demure, sports a dark olive green above with paler yellow underparts, which brighten to a more intense hue on her belly. Her wings and tail are a dusky black, yet she too flaunts bright yellow primary wing patches and tail sides. The juveniles take after the female but are marked by dusky fringes on their upperpart feathers and more modest yellow on their wing and tail patches.

Identification Tips

To identify this species, look for the male's distinctive black and yellow coloring and the female's olive and yellow plumage. The subspecies S. x. stejnegeri is notable for its larger size, longer bill, and in males, more expansive yellow wing patches and additional black on the flanks. Females of this subspecies are a darker olive above compared to their northern counterparts.

Habitat

The Yellow-bellied Siskin favors mountain oak forests, thriving at elevations ranging from 800 to 3,000 meters.

Distribution

This bird's breeding range extends from Costa Rica through to southern Ecuador, central Bolivia, and the highlands of northwestern Venezuela.

Behaviour

While not migratory, the Yellow-bellied Siskin is known to roam within its range outside of the breeding season. It is a sociable creature, sometimes gathering in flocks of up to 30 individuals. These flocks forage in the canopy for small insects and oak flowers or descend to clearings in search of seeds. During certain times, males may engage in social singing.

Song & Calls

The song of the Yellow-bellied Siskin is a delightful chattering twitter, while its call is a sharp "pyee."

Breeding

The nest, a modest cup constructed from rootlets, bark, and lichens, is placed 2.4 to 3.7 meters high in the dense foliage of a small tree within a clearing. The female lays two or three green-tinged white eggs in April or May and is solely responsible for incubation.

Similar Species

The Yellow-bellied Siskin can be distinguished from the Lesser Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria, by its preference for woodland habitats, the male's lack of white wing patches, and its less musical song.

Diet and Feeding

This bird's diet consists of small insects, oak flowers, and seeds, which it forages for in the forest canopy or in clearings.

Conservation status

The IUCN Red List classifies the Yellow-bellied Siskin as Least Concern. However, it has faced relentless persecution for the cage-bird trade in certain areas, such as central Costa Rica. Despite this, it remains common in remote or protected regions.

App logo
Birda is a birdwatching app and community aimed at curious people who want to deepen their connection with nature.

Yellow-bellied Siskins on Birda

Sightings
A map showing the sighting location
Profile picture for Angelica Ladino
Angelica Ladino
12 Jun 2024 - 6:59pm
Colombia

More Finches, Euphonias

A photo of a Lesser Redpoll (Acanthis cabaret) , male

Lesser Redpoll

Acanthis cabaret
Birda Logo

Your birdwatching journey like never before

Connect with nature in minutes
Take a walk, look out of the window and log the birds that you see. Feel good about those little connections to nature.
Discover the joy of birding
Find new birding spots, see more birds, share and celebrate with a like-minded community of nature lovers.
Play your part in saving nature
Logging your birding sightings and sessions turns into positive action for our planet. Every sighting counts.

Birda Blog

What Our Birders Say
Madstherangers
A mordern game changer
Birda is an awesome app, its updated the world of birding to the modern day with a fun and easy to use app. It’s engaging and allows positive interaction with fellow bird lovers!
Emma L
App got me interested in birding!
Super friendly community <3 This app got me interested in birding! It teaches me cool stuff and its super friendly, and fun :) The species guide is really developing my knowledge, and i love seeing cool new birds from round the world!
Alex J
Friendly and helps to identify birds
Great birding app, good for logging your sightings, also has nice species guide. I'm enjoying the social aspect more than I expected, everyone seems friendly and helps to identify unknown birds. Good mix of newbies and experienced users.
Ellesse_W
Learning Birding with Birda
I’m relatively new to birding as a hobby, and Birda is a great way to keep track off all the species I see. I’m still working on my ID skills, but the app is great for figuring out potential species, and the online community is so friendly and helpful. Definitely recommend Birda to both early and serious birders! 🐦
Bryan C
Clean and easy to use
Really enjoying this app, it's clean and easy to use. I love the ease of being able to add those one-off birds without starting a whole checklist. I also like the social aspect, like the parts of my Facebook I like, without the ads and junk, just birds. Can't wait to see it become more populated.
778
Great bird recording
For a while I’ve been trying to find an app to easily record bird lists and day out and struggled to find one that I like. Birda is great for this, straightforward and a great community!
Sacha0508
Simply fantastic
I love this app, it puts so much fun into recording the birds I’ve seen and heard while I’m out and about. The interface is user-friendly and suitable for all ages. It’s great to collect badges and to review my “lists”.
Amylia S
Best app for any birding person!
I love this app!! I am so addicted to it when I saw it had 3 star review I was so sad! The app is awesome!! The best app for any birding person! ❤️
Anonymous
The best bird logging app
Birda is honestly the best bird logging app I have seen. I love all the features it has from being able to do a session and log all the birds you see in one sitting, to being able to connect with other birders from all over the globe!
Pdydhdrexgi
Fantastic App
This is a really lovely app, for everyone interested in birds - from newbies to old hands. There is a very friendly feel to the community and you will genuinely learn a lot as you record your sightings and photos. There are lots of badges and competitions to keep you engaged, and a host of really useful features.
As featured in
Birda Logo
AboutPressAmbassadorsAffiliatesInfluencersCareersPrivacyTerms & Conditions
An app for birdwatchers
Connect with us
Copyright © 2024 Chirp Birding. All rights reserved.