''Crithagra'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

birds in the

finch family The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

(Fringillidae). They live in Africa and Arabia. The species in this genus were formerly assigned to the

'' Serinus'', but

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups ...

analysis of

mitochondrial A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used t ...

and nuclear DNA sequences found that the genus was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

. It was therefore split into two

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gr ...

genera. Eight species, including the

European serin The European serin, or simply the serin (''Serinus serinus''), is the smallest European species of the family of finches (Fringillidae) and is closely related to the Atlantic canary. Its diet consists mainly of a combination of buds and seeds. ...

(''Serinus serinus''), were retained in ''Serinus'', while the other species were assigned to the resurrected genus ''Crithagra''. The genus was introduced in 1827 by the English ornithologist

William John Swainson William John Swainson FLS, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swainson was born in Dover Place, St Mary Newington, London, the eldest son of Jo ...

. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...

was subsequently designated as the

brimstone canary The brimstone canary or bully canary (''Crithagra sulphurata'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is a resident breeder in central and southern Africa. This species is found in open, lightly wooded habitats, such as hillsides ...

. The name comes from the

classical Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

''krithē'' for "barley" and ''agra'' for "hunting". The genus contains 37 species: *

Príncipe seedeater The Príncipe seedeater (''Crithagra rufobrunnea'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found only on the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe Príncipe is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé ...

, ''Crithagra rufobrunnea'' *

São Tomé grosbeak The São Tomé grosbeak (''Crithagra concolor'') is the largest member of the canary genus ''Crithagra'', 50% heavier than the next largest canary species, and possesses a massive bill for a member of that genus. It is endemic to the island of S ...

, ''Crithagra concolor'' *

African citril The African citril (''Crithagra citrinelloides''), also known as the Abyssinian citril, is a species of finch. It is found from Ethiopia, Eritrea to western Kenya. It is closely related to the western and southern citril, to which it was fo ...

, ''Crithagra citrinelloides'' *

Western citril The western citril (''Crithagra frontalis''), also known as the yellow-browed citril, is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in central Africa. The western citril was formerly placed in the genus ''Serinus'' but phylogene ...

, ''Crithagra frontalis'' *

Southern citril The southern citril (''Crithagra hyposticta'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi. The southern citril was formerly placed in the genus '' Serinus'' but phylo ...

, ''Crithagra hyposticta'' *

Black-faced canary The black-faced canary (''Crithagra capistrata'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtr ...

, ''Crithagra capistrata'' *

Papyrus canary The papyrus canary (''Crithagra koliensis''), also known as Van Someren's canary, is a species of passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uga ...

, ''Crithagra koliensis'' *

Forest canary The forest canary (''Crithagra scotops'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in South Africa and Eswatini. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist m ...

, ''Crithagra scotops'' * White-rumped seedeater, ''Crithagra leucopygia'' *

Black-throated canary The black-throated canary (''Crithagra atrogularis''), also known as the black-throated seedeater, is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. Distribution It is found frequently in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, De ...

, ''Crithagra atrogularis'' *

Yellow-rumped seedeater The yellow-rumped seedeater, yellow-rumped serin or Abyssinian yellow-rumped seedeater (''Crithagra xanthopygia'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropi ...

, ''Crithagra xanthopygia'' *

Reichenow's seedeater Reichenow's seedeater (''Crithagra reichenowi'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the black-throated canary. The Reichenow's seedeater was formerly placed in the genus '' Serinus'' ...

, ''Crithagra reichenowi'' * Arabian serin, ''Crithagra rothschildi'' *

Yellow-throated seedeater The yellow-throated seedeater (''Crithagra flavigula'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found only in Ethiopia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassla ...

, ''Crithagra flavigula'' * Salvadori's seedeater, ''Crithagra xantholaema'' *

Lemon-breasted canary The lemon-breasted canary (''Crithagra citrinipectus''), also known as the lemon-breasted seedeater, is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habi ...

, ''Crithagra citrinipectus'' *

Yellow-fronted canary The yellow-fronted canary (''Crithagra mozambica'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is sometimes known in aviculture as the green singing finch. The yellow-fronted canary was formerly placed in the genus '' Serinus'', but ...

, ''Crithagra mozambica'' * White-bellied canary, ''Crithagra dorsostriata'' *

Ankober serin The Ankober serin (''Crithagra ankoberensis'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is a small brown seedeater, about 12 centimeters or 5 inches in length with brown upperparts and its head and breast distinguished with heavy bu ...

, ''Crithagra ankoberensis'' * Yemen serin, ''Crithagra menachensis'' * Cape siskin, ''Crithagra totta'' * Drakensberg siskin, ''Crithagra symonsi'' * Northern grosbeak-canary, ''Crithagra donaldsoni'' * Southern grosbeak-canary, ''Crithagra buchanani'' *

Yellow canary The yellow canary (''Crithagra flaviventris'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is a resident breeder in much of the western and central regions of southern Africa and has been introduced to Ascension and St Helena islands. T ...

, ''Crithagra flaviventris'' *

Brimstone canary The brimstone canary or bully canary (''Crithagra sulphurata'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is a resident breeder in central and southern Africa. This species is found in open, lightly wooded habitats, such as hillsides ...

, ''Crithagra sulphurata'' *

Stripe-breasted seedeater The stripe-breasted seedeater (''Crithagra striatipectus'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is native to Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya. The stripe-breasted seedeater was formerly conspecific with Reichard's seedeater (''C ...

, ''Crithagra striatipectus'' *

Reichard's seedeater Reichard's seedeater (''Crithagra reichardi'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is native to the miombo savanna (mainly Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania). It is named after the German explorer Paul Reichard. Reichard's seedeater ...

, ''Crithagra reichardi'' *

Streaky-headed seedeater The streaky-headed seedeater or streaky-headed canary (''Crithagra gularis'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is an unobtrusive but widespread species in suitable habitats of southern Africa. Its presence in an area is rev ...

, ''Crithagra gularis'' *

West African seedeater The West African seedeater (''Crithagra canicapilla'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, southern Mali and northern Ivory Coast across to southern Niger and northern Cameroon. Some authorities ...

, ''Crithagra canicapilla'' * Black-eared seedeater, ''Crithagra mennelli'' * Brown-rumped seedeater, ''Crithagra tristriata'' * White-throated canary, ''Crithagra albogularis'' * Thick-billed seedeater, ''Crithagra burtoni'' *

Streaky seedeater The streaky seedeater (''Crithagra striolata'') is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Phylogeny T ...

, ''Crithagra striolata'' * Yellow-browed seedeater, ''Crithagra whytii'' * Kipengere seedeater, ''Crithagra melanochroa'' * Protea canary, ''Crithagra leucoptera''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q14517970 Fringillidae Bird genera