Pine Siskins

It's recently started to gel in my mind that the crowds of Pine Siskins I've had this winter is a new phenomenon for me and we've seen almost no other brand of finch at the feeders. Usually we have a mix of gold, house, and purple finches, titmice, nuthatches and woodpeckers. This year, the feeders have been dominated by these Siskins. What's up? Where are my other birds, and are they going to come back, are they gone because the two dozen or so Siskins ate all the feed? I feel kind of dumb because it didn't dawn on me earlier that the little birds at the feeders weren't gold finches in winter dress. Then when I did realize, I started counting birds and one day we had 28 Siskins between the side yard and the back yard. It feels like an invasion. I see only a couple gold finches and one or two of the other varieties that I usually have. I prefer the variety I used to have, even while I'm rather enjoying the chatter that emanates from the trees when I'm outside and they're challenging me from above. Any one have a comment or experience with these guys? Thanks.

I can't remember the name Candy but it happens every so often when we have a colder winter

I've also seen a lot more Siskins this winter and I think it is called an irruption. Here is an interesting read about themhttp://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/News/PineSiskinIrruption08-09.htm .

Edited to fix the link...hope it works.

This message was edited Mar 7, 2009 10:36 AM

I'm experiencing the same thing down here in South Central Missouri.

The Pine Siskins are an 'IRRUPTIVE SPECIES". Seen in large numbers, in some years. The unusually cold winter has pushed most species farther south than normal this year.

Thanks Rose, I couldn't think of the name.

I had a large flock of siskins with me for about one month. They ate everything! They were very tame and sweet, but little piggies! I suspect the ones you have now are the ones from my yard ha haha because I am down to just a few. And yes this is the first year I had them like this! GM

Wow. They really get around. I've enjoyed getting to know them, but I miss my regular birds. Maybe the finches I'm accustomed to have gone farther south and will be back as the weather warms.

Well they haven't all gone south. I've had 2 to 3 hundred of them for the last two months, and they've run off most of my other birds too. I had 60 to 80 pine grosbeaks before this hoard showed up, plus a good variety of other birds, but these little piggies with wings are so aggressive that they have run all but a handfull of the others off. I've gone through 80 to 100 pounds of BOSS a week since they showed up, but they're kinda fun 'cause they're so tame they will feed out of my hands and crawl up my pantlegs if I sit out on the porch.

Here's a shot of them crawling up my pantlegs......

Ava,
Looks like Carol took better shots of you with the Pine Siskins, than the shot I took last year. I never got any shots with your face in the picture, just one hand.
Gary

That's funny Ava!

How neat! They sure didn't ever seem so tame to me.

Haha......Better off without the face I think. Here's one I took myself. Hard to do with bird in one hand and camera in the other.

Wow, never occurred to me to try that. My two dozen seems like nothing. Sure hope my gold finches come back though.

So exactly what is the phenomenon that causes the pine siskins to bypass my house, huh????

Haven't seen one in ages.

Looking through some old photos, I stumbled across this close-up of a Pine Siskin, taken on Ava's porch, a year ago.

Check this out - someone created a Cafepress store with a logo that says "I Survived 08-09 Finch Invasion". Ha!
http://www.cafepress.com/birder/6548136

That's so cool evie! I put it in my favorites.

!!!OMG!!! Where is the t-shirt for those of us that didn't get our finches! ;-( I even worked hard to improve the habitat for their winter visit.

I hate to steal this thread, but is this a Pine Siskin? I was out taking pics one day, and this was in a tree in my backyard. I've never seen one before. I thought it was some kind of Sparrow.

Thanks

Sorry, no, that's a female Purple Finch. Note the stout bill, complete lack of yellow-green tones, and whitish eyebrow.

Resin

Resin,

Thank you! I'm pretty new to bird watching, and know little about different birds.

Rose

A Pine Siskin surprised me when it popped in, to have lunch with me. I have a bird feeder on the outside of the window in front of the counter I eat my lunch on. We were eating lunch. The Redpolls were at the feeder on the outside. Only 2 or 3 feet between the birds and my plate. Suddenly a bird landed in front of me that didn't match the rest. To my surprise there were several Pine Siskins in the flock. I haven't had Pine Siskins at my feeder in years. Last spring I got a quick glimpse of one in the yard. I had the camera set up with the intention of shooting Redpolls when the sun came around in illuminate the area. I snapped several good shots of a male sitting in the tree in front of the feed. Photo Shop took the glare off the glass out. This is the best shot I've ever taken of a Pine Siskin. Oh, the light was terrible, shot at 1/40 sec. @ F/3.70 !

Gary that is a gorgeous shot!

Add me to the list of folks being invaded by pine siskins this year. I've never seen one in my yard before; but just within the last few weeks they seem to be everywhere. I counted 20 of them in a big mesquite bush this afternoon; and they all seemed to love thistle seed.

Wow I never thought they would be that far south!

We were inundated with Pine Siskins for the first time this winter also. They took over the four thistle feeders and forced the poor goldfinches to feed at the boss feeders. The Siskins are rowdy and will defend a feeding site to the point that they aren't eating anything - just keeping everyone else away! I've never wished a species ill, so I'll just say I hope they decide to go elsewhere from now on.

Barb

Wow. At least I'm not alone. Guess I should be grateful for this experience since it might not happen again for a while. Still, I worry about the other finches I normally have in the winter. That web site is great. Maybe I need a t'shirt to commemorate my experience. Gary, that's a great picture. Jane, yours too. They've eaten bags and bags of thistle seed here.