Another Irruptive Species Shows Up

Yet another irruptive boreal species has shown up this winter, the Pine Siskin. It is a small seed eating boreal finch that breeds mainly in coniferous forests across southern Canada and throughout the upper elevations of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest. Undoubtedly this southward movement along with White-winged Crossbills this winter is related to a poor showing of cone crops in the north.

Siskins are primarily an arboreal species that are found in noisy gregarious flocks. One often hears their calls, a rising buzzy zeeeeee, before they are seen. They are very active birds foraging in hemlocks, spruces and birches often hanging upside down like crossbills. They will also come down to the ground to feed on seed much like redpolls, which are only being sporadically reported in our area this winter.

Female Pine Siskins most closely resemble a female House Finch, until you pay attention to the slender pointed bill, finer streaking on the flanks, conspicuously notched tail and stronger wing bars. The males show yellow in the wing bar as well as on the wing, which of course is more evident in flight.

The best way to attract Pine Siskins (top rung) is to provide a feeder full of nyjer seed. American Goldfinches (bottom rung), which are resident here are also very fond of nyjer, a small thin black seed with high calorie and oil content. A common misconception is that it is a thistle seed. This likely comes from the fact that since finches favor thistle in the wild, and nyjer looks like thistle, then it must be thistle! It is not.

Siskins often associate with goldfinches, though at the feeder the more aggressive siskins can be seen challenging them. Goldfinches have a small stout bill, are not streaked and tend to be a slightly smaller and a little chunkier than siskins.