# Crithagra

Crithagra is a genus of small passerine birds in the finch family (Fringillidae). They live in Africa and Arabia.
The species in this genus were formerly assigned to the genus Serinus, but phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences found that the genus was polyphyletic. It was therefore split into two monophyletic genera. Eight species, including the European serin (Serinus serinus), were retained in Serinus, while the other species were assigned to the resurrected genus Crithagra.

## Species

The genus was introduced in 1827 by the English ornithologist William Swainson. The type species was subsequently designated as the brimstone canary. The name comes from the classical Greek krithē for "barley" and agra for "hunting".
The genus contains 37 species:
| Common name | Scientific Name | Distribution |
| Príncipe seedeater | Crithagra rufobrunnea | São Tomé and Príncipe |
| São Tomé grosbeak | Crithagra concolor | São Tomé |
| African citril | Crithagra citrinelloides | Ethiopia, Eritrea to western Kenya. |
| Western citril | Crithagra frontalis | central Africa |
| Southern citril | Crithagra hyposticta | South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi. |
| Black-faced canary | Crithagra capistrata | Angola, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Zambia. |
| Papyrus canary | Crithagra koliensis | Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda |
| Forest canary | Crithagra scotops | Cameroon, Congo, and Kenya. |
| White-rumped seedeater | Crithagra leucopygia | Sudan |
| Black-throated canary | Crithagra atrogularis | Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. |
| Yellow-rumped seedeater | Crithagra xanthopygia | Eritrea, Kenya and Ethiopia. |
| Reichenow's seedeater | Crithagra reichenowi | eastern Africa |
| Arabian serin | Crithagra rothschildi | western Saudi Arabia and Yemen |
| Yellow-throated seedeater | Crithagra flavigula | Ethiopia. |
| Salvadori's seedeater | Crithagra xantholaema | Ethiopia. |
| Lemon-breasted canary | Crithagra citrinipectus | Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. |
| Yellow-fronted canary | Crithagra mozambica | Africa south of the Sahara Desert. |
| White-bellied canary | Crithagra dorsostriata | Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. |
| Ankober serin | Crithagra ankoberensis | Ethiopia |
| Yemen serin | Crithagra menachensis | Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. |
| Cape siskin | Crithagra totta | South Africa. |
| Drakensberg siskin | Crithagra symonsi | South Africa, |
| Northern grosbeak-canary | Crithagra donaldsoni | Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. |
| Southern grosbeak-canary | Crithagra buchanani | Kenya and Tanzania. |
| Yellow canary | Crithagra flaviventris | southern Africa |
| Brimstone canary | Crithagra sulphurata | central and southern Africa. |
| Stripe-breasted seedeater | Crithagra striatipectus | Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya. |
| Reichard's seedeater | Crithagra reichardi | Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania |
| Streaky-headed seedeater | Crithagra gularis | southern Africa. |
| West African seedeater | Crithagra canicapilla | Guinea, Sierra Leone, southern Mali and northern Ivory Coast across to southern Niger and northern Cameroon |
| Black-eared seedeater | Crithagra mennelli | Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. |
| Brown-rumped seedeater | Crithagra tristriata | Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. |
| White-throated canary | Crithagra albogularis | Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa. |
| Thick-billed seedeater | Crithagra burtoni | Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. |
| Streaky seedeater | Crithagra striolata | Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. |
| Yellow-browed seedeater | Crithagra whytii | Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. |
| Kipengere seedeater | Crithagra melanochroa | Tanzania |
| Protea canary | Crithagra leucoptera | South Africa. |