Pine Siskin

The First Pine Siskin to Visit My Feeders

According to Peterson’s Birds of Eastern and Central North America, Pine Siskins (Carduelis pinus) are an “uncommon, irruptive” species. So I was pretty excited to spot one at my sock feeder the other day! About the only thing I enjoyed while suffering from the stomach bug was being able to watch my bird feeders from the couch. At one point, there appeared to be something new nibbling away at the sock feeder. It looked a lot like a goldfinch, but even from ten feet away its coloration seemed different enough to make me slowly get up off the couch and sneak a closer peek. I’m glad I did. As I got closer I saw it was darker than a goldfinch and had noticeable streaking on its breast and belly. Luckily my camera was right close by and I took a few snapshots.

I then spent quite a bit of time looking through my Peterson guide and my Birds of New York book trying to positively identify my new feathered friend. I even consulted the Cornell website. After my initial research I was able to narrow it down to being either a Pine Siskin or House Finch. Unfortunately, none of the photos I took really captured the tips of the bird’s wings or its tail and I hadn’t noticed any yellow in those locations in my direct observations. But I did have a couple of profile shots that showed the beak pretty well. Luckily, one showed up again the next day and I was able to observe the yellow streaks on its wings and tail, which confirmed my initial suspicions that it was indeed a Pine Siskin.

More Pine Siskins have shown up each day since my initial spotting. They are fun, little birds that appear to have a set pecking order amongst themselves. One of the other behavioral characteristics that I have noticed is that they’ll approach a feeder when a goldfinch or chickadee is already there, but will keep these other species away when the siskin is there first. Of course, it does give way to nuthatches and larger birds. As a side note, at one point yesterday morning I counted fourteen siskins at my various feeders.