The name siskin when referring to a
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
is derived from an adaptation of the German dialect words ''sisschen'', ''zeischen'', which are diminutive forms of
Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...
(''zîsec'') and
Middle Low German
Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225–34 (). During the Hanseatic period (from about 1300 to about 1600), Mid ...
(''ziseke'', ''sisek'') words, with cognates in
Slavic languages, cf.
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
''čížek''; these names are of
onomatopoeic
Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as ''oink'', '' ...
origin.
The name siskin was first recorded in written English in 1544 in
William Turner's ''Avium praecipuarum, quarum apud Plinium et Aristotelem mentio est, brevis et succincta historia'',
referring to the
Eurasian siskin ''Spinus spinus''.
''Spinus''
*
Andean siskin ''Spinus spinescens''
*
Antillean siskin ''Spinus dominicensis''
*
Black siskin ''Spinus atratus''
*
Black-capped siskin ''Spinus atriceps''
*
Black-chinned siskin ''Spinus barbatus''
*
Black-headed siskin ''Spinus notatus''
*
Eurasian siskin ''Spinus spinus''
*
Hooded siskin
The hooded siskin (''Spinus magellanicus'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family (biology), family (Fringillidae), native to South America. It belongs to the putative clade of neotropical siskins in the genus ''Spinus (genus), Spinus sen ...
''Spinus magellanicus''
*
Olivaceous siskin ''Spinus olivaceus''
*
Pine siskin
The pine siskin (''Spinus pinus'') is a North American bird in the finch family. It is a migratory bird with an extremely sporadic winter range.
Taxonomy
The pine siskin was formally described in 1810 by the American ornithologist Alexander W ...
''Spinus pinus''
*
Red siskin ''Spinus cucullatus''
*
Saffron siskin ''Spinus siemiradzkii''
*
Thick-billed siskin
The thick-billed siskin (''Spinus crassirostris'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae.
Found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru, its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical h ...
''Spinus crassirostris''
*
Yellow-bellied siskin ''Spinus xanthogastrus''
*
Yellow-faced siskin ''Spinus yarrellii''
*
Yellow-rumped siskin ''Spinus uropygialis''
''Crithagra'' and ''Serinus''
*
Cape siskin ''Crithagra totta''
*
Drakensberg siskin ''Crithagra symonsi''
*
Ethiopian siskin ''Serinus nigriceps''
References
External links
Siskin videos, photos and soundson the Internet Bird Collection
{{Animal common name
Bird common names
Finches
German words and phrases
Slavic words and phrases