siskin

Noun

siskin (plural siskins)

1. A small green and yellow European finch, Carduelis spinus spinus or Carduelis spinus, now Spinus spinus.
   • I sat there on a bench in dappled shade, beside an aviary full of brightly feathered finches and siskins fluttering about.2001, WG Sebald, translated by Anthea Bell, Austerlitz, Penguin, published 2011, page 2
   • Many of these classic methods are still used, with some modern improvements. For example, with the aid of special microphones and automated sound detection software, ornithologists recently reported […] that pine siskins (Spinus pinus) undergo an irregular, nomadic type of nocturnal migration.2013 January, Paul Bartell, Ashli Moore, “Avian Migration: The Ultimate Red-Eye Flight”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 05 Mar 2016, pages 47–48
2. Any of various similar birds in subfamily Carduelinae, principally in the genus Spinus.