Spinus. Spinus is a genus of passerine birds in the finch family. It contains the North and South American siskins and goldfinches. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek spinos, a name for a now-unidentifiable bird. All of the species in the genus other than the Tibetan serin were formerly included in the genus Carduelis. They were moved to the resurrected genus Spinus based on phylogenetic studies of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. The Tibetan serin was formerly placed in the genus Serinus. The Eurasian siskin and the Tibetan serin are the only species from the Old World included in the group. The genus Spinus was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch with the Eurasian siskin as the type species. The genus contains 20 species: Image Common Name Scientific name Distribution Tibetan serin Spinus thibetanus Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. American goldfinch Spinus tristis mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canada-United States border to Mexico during the winter Lawrence's goldfinch Spinus lawrencei California and Baja California and winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico Lesser goldfinch Spinus psaltria southwestern United States to Venezuela and Peru. Eurasian siskin Spinus spinus Eurasia and the north of Africa Antillean siskin Spinus dominicensis Haiti and the Dominican Republic Pine siskin Spinus pinus Canada, Alaska and, to a more variable degree, across the western mountains and northern parts of the United States. Black-capped siskin Spinus atriceps Guatemala and Mexico Black-headed siskin Spinus notata Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Black-chinned siskin Spinus barbata Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, Yellow-bellied siskin Spinus xanthogastra Costa Rica south to southern Ecuador, central Bolivia and the highlands of northwestern Venezuela. Olivaceous siskin Spinus olivacea northern Peru to La Paz and Cochabamba in Bolivia and to southeastern Ecuador, and has also been observed east of the Andes near Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia. Hooded siskin Spinus magellanica central Argentina north to central Brazil. Saffron siskin Spinus siemiradzkii Ecuador and Peru Yellow-faced siskin Spinus yarrellii Brazil and Venezuela. Red siskin Spinus cucullata northern Colombia and northern Venezuela Black siskin Spinus atrata Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru Yellow-rumped siskin Spinus uropygialis Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.