Ethiopian Siskin

The Ethiopian Siskin is a slim little finch with a fine pointed bill at the end of a serrate tail and long wings, characteristic of altitudinal Ethiopian siskins. The male has an entirely black sooty head from the forehead to the nape and from the chin to the center of the chest, sometimes browner on the ear coverts under good lighting. The iris is dark brown or black, the bill is glossy black. The mantle and the back are dull yellow-olive. The scapulars range from yellowish green to bright yellow, the colors becoming duller in worn plumage. The small coverts are black and the medium coverts are broadly edged in pale lemon yellow. The alula and the large coverts are black, finely edged in pale yellow. The remiges are black with yellow-olive edges. The rump is yellow or yellowish tinged with olive. The tail is blackish finely edged in yellow or chamois white. Seen from the back, the coverts to the tip of the rectrices form a continuity of black and yellow edges. The underside is yellowish tinged with olive green on the sides of the chest and on the flanks. The legs are dark brown. The female has a generally yellow-brown-olive streaked pattern. The forehead to the lores and the contour of the eyes are olive gray. The crown and the upperparts are duller olive green with dark brown streaks except for the rump which is bright yellowish green. The tertiary remiges are black, widely yellow at the tip, the secondaries and primaries are black finely barred with yellow. The underside is yellow, duller than the male, finely streaked with brown from the chin to the flanks. The bill is dark brown, the legs are black. The juvenile is similar to the female but browner on the top. The head is dark olive gray, it has more pronounced streaks on the top and bottom.The edges of the coverings are pale chamois or yellow-chamois which may have dark markings on the upper rump.