Perhaps the latest, biggest news here at the house was the return of the Pine siskins last week. Their presence was very reliable during the second quarter of 2009 but I only logged them in the yard in about three weeks after that, the last time being in the week of 10/5/2009. Over the years the Pine siskins have often been our most populous winter species but for reasons that are unknown to me, they are one of the species that seem to be intermittent. For the past couple of weeks we've had a pair in the yard and they are now being joined by their friends the American goldfinches.
I seldom see the Pine siskins feeding on the ground. None of my feeders have perches (they are all of the clinging type) but the siskins are quite adept at hanging from the feeders for an extended length of time and eating the hull-less sunflower seeds I provide
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It can be easy for a novice birder to confuse a female goldfinch, a female House finch and a Pine siskin. Both the female goldfinch and most Pine siskins exhibit pale yellow feathers on their wings, and both the Pine siskin and female house finch have vertical breast-striping, but the Pine siskin has an exceptionally sharp, pointed beak which differentiates it from the other two species.
As I write this and periodically check my yard for bird activity I see that the original two Pine siskins have been joined by at least a third.
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