• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Has sometimes been thought to be closely related to S. serinus, S. canaria and S. canicollis, but recent DNA analyses recovered this species as sister to S. pusillus (Zuccon et al. 2012). Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	C2a(ii)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2018	Vulnerable	C1
2017	Vulnerable	C1
2016	Vulnerable	C1
2012	Vulnerable	C1
2008	Vulnerable	C1
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Near Threatened

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	12 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	24,100 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	70,800 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	6,500 km2
Number of locations	11-100	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	7000-9999 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2022
Population trend	decreasing	medium	inferred	2016-2026
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.5 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: In Israel, 100-360 mature individuals have been estimated (Evans 1994). Across Lebanon, 3,500 pairs have been estimated in protected areas (Ramadan-Jaradi and Ramadan-Jaradi 1999, 2002), which roughly equates to 7,000 mature individuals. In 1999, 1,000-1,250 mature individuals were estimated in Jordan (down from 600-650 pairs in 1996 due to drought with the entire national population restricted to 15km²; Khoury 2000). More recently for the Jordanian population, 500-700 pairs were estimated in 2011 (Qaneer et al. 2013), and in 2022, 440-490 breeding pairs were remaining in Dana in SW Jordan (F. Khoury in litt. 2022), equating to 880-980 mature individuals. Although there is lack of information for Syria, the species is considered to be very local (Baumgart 1995, N. Asswad in litt. 2016, Clement and de Juana 2020). Given localised declines of the species, the overall population is therefore estimated to fall into the band of 7,000-9,999 mature individuals, roughly equating to 10,500-14,999 individuals.

Trend justification: The species is inferred to be undergoing a moderately rapid decline.
The breeding population in Israel has been assumed to be stable, based on ringing data between 2012-2016 (Y. Lehnardt in litt. 2016). Recent deforestation analysis has also shown that tree cover loss equated to <5% over 10 years within the species range (Global Forest Watch 2021). This suggests that habitat loss by wood-cutting may be relatively low. However, the species is severely impacted by the synergistic effects of drought and grazing (Clement and de Juana 2020), whilst conflict within parts of the species' range could also threaten the population.
The Jordanian breeding population has previously undergone a decline, with the Al-Barrah population in the Dana Nature Reserve having declined by c.20% between 1996 and 1999 and their area of occupancy having decreased by 25%. In addition, marginal areas of the breeding distribution in 1996 were unoccupied in 1999 (Khoury 2000). This suggests a decrease in population size, as the national population was estimated as 500 pairs, with 480 in Al-Barrah in the 1999 breeding season (Khoury 2000). During the 1999 breeding season no individuals were recorded in other areas of south-west Jordan (e.g. Al-Hishi woodland) or northern Jordan (Mediterranean woodland) that would have been suitable as alternative feeding sites to avoid the drought. The decline in population size therefore did not seem to represent a shift in population distribution. Previous population estimates in Jordan were also in the range 1,200-1,300 mature individuals (Khoury 2000) and the 1999 estimate therefore represented a decline of c.20%. Additionally, the habitat across the Dana Reserve in Jordan is considered to be much more degraded now, with the breeding area having decreased severely in recent years due to a combination of mining activities and wind farms, droughts, overgrazing, and human activities; the population found is now considered unviable (F. Khoury in litt. 2022). 
Similarly in Lebanon, recent count surveys have found the species' numbers to have dropped in many sites (F. Itani in litt. 2022). However, a 2021 study of four sites (previously analysed by Ramadan-Jaradi and Ramadan-Jaradi [2002]) showed that the mean densities of two sites (Chouf Cedars Biosphere Reserve and Horsch Ehden Nature Reserve) had remained the same, with mean densities increasing for the Qammouha Nature Reserve and only Tannourine Nature Reserve showing declines (G. Ramadan-Jaradi in litt. 2022). Albeit, declines in the number of pairs have been observed in Anjar between 2016-2020 due to emerging threats by invasive species (G. Ramadan-Jaradi in litt. 2022). Given previous, moderate rates of declines as well as observed declines across numbers and densities at specific sites due to ongoing and emerging threats, the population is thought to be tentatively declining at a rate of 20-29% over 10 years.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Egypt	extant	native			yes
Israel	extant	native	yes			yes
Jordan	extant	native	yes			yes
Lebanon	extant	native	yes			yes
Palestine	extant	native			yes	yes
Syria	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Jordan	Dana
Jordan	Petra
Lebanon	Hima Anjar - Kfar Zabad
Lebanon	Horsh Ehden Nature Reserve
Lebanon	Shouf Cedars Nature Reserve
Lebanon	Tannourine Nature Reserve
Lebanon	Upper Mountains of Akkar-Donnieh
Syria	Abu Zad
Syria	Mount Hermon
Syria	Wadi al-Qarn - Burqush

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	non-breeding
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	major	non-breeding
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	major	breeding
Altitude	900 - 1800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 1900 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Negligible declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 3
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Renewable energy	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 3
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem conversion
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species disturbance
Human intrusions & disturbance	War, civil unrest & military exercises	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Acridotheres tristis	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Serinus serinus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance
Natural system modifications	Dams & water management/use - Abstraction of surface water (unknown use)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Syrian Serin Serinus syriacus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/syrian-serin-serinus-syriacus on 27/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 27/11/2024.