Pine Siskin
“According to the 2023-2024 report, this fall and winter look to be a promising flight year for one boreal finch in particular, the Pine Siskins.”
Through the year
Columns that mention it, by the month they were published.
Year by year
Columns that mention it each year.
In his words
Ten of the 21 passages, oldest first.
Other possible “snowbirds” include pine grosbeaks, pine siskin, redpolls, and both red and white-winged crossbills.
During the last week of the month we had at least two visits from small flocks (2-3) of Pine Siskins.
Other noteworthy observations: a flock of up to 18 Pine Siskin’s continuing to feed daily on our Nyjer tube.
Lastly, we are still seeing good numbers of Pine Siskins on our Nyjer tube.
On February 2 I witnessed a flock of 50 or more Pine Siskins over Great Pond Cove.
During the first two days of December we had at least two visits from small flocks (2-3) of Pine Siskins.
As of last year, this report has grown to include detailed forecasts for eight irruptive finch species, including Purple Finches, Pine Grosbeaks, Common Redpolls, Hoary Redpolls Red Crossbills, White-winged Crossbills, Pine Siskins and Evening Grosbeaks.
As of the last week of October, there have been an increase in reports of Pine Siskins, aka “winter finches” swarming nyjer feeders.
On the 5th of November a flock of nineteen Pine Siskins arrived on our property.
Inland, the winter finch irruption continues to unfold, yielding more and more reported sightings of Evening Grosbeak, Pine Grosbeak, Common Redpoll, Pine Siskin as well as White-winged and Red Crossbill.
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Other noteworthy mentionings in February: a Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, a male and female Carolina Wren, and a solitary Pine Siskin all in the same old Crab apple tree in my yard on February 24.
On these last days of winter, the most northern, and last arriving of the winter finches from this past season’s noteworthy irruption (i.e., Redpolls, Pine Siskins, Pine Grosbeaks) are pushing back northwards to their boreal breeding grounds.
A solid spruce and hemlock crop throughout central Ontario to the southern Maritimes (Nova Scotia) will also keep Red Crossbills, Common and Hoary Redpolls, along with Pine Siskins largely within their northerly haunts this season.
Other mentionings include, on October 29 while wandering Runaway Farm’s old Spruce Forest, I was admiring an opening in the canopy of mature spruce trees when I heard the distinctive flight calls, sounding something like, zweee rin of Pine Siskins.
Other mentionings from both the field and yard include my only winter finch sighting of the month on January 13, a single Pine Siskin that showed up to our thistle feeder amongst a company of American Goldfinches.
According to the 2023-2024 report, this fall and winter look to be a promising flight year for one boreal finch in particular, the Pine Siskins.
And lastly, on the afternoon of January 6 I heard the zree-e-e-e-e-eet call from a Pine Siskin somewhere high above my house in an Oak Tree.
Later in the afternoon two Pine Siskins stopped in and joined seventeen molting Goldfinches on the finch tube.
A few observations over the last several weeks from the yard include - two continuing Pine Siskins that have hung around the feeders since late February.
Up until recently I have always associated seeing Pine Siskins with the cold months of the year.
Highlights from this year’s report include moderate southward movements of Pine Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins, and Evening Grosbeaks.