An Irruption of Pine Siskins

The dark gypsy has come to town, one of the species partial to thistle seed. The dark gypsy is the pine siskin, a close cousin of our familiar goldfinch. They are the same size, share the same flocking habits, and the same food preference. As befits its name, the pine siskin favors the seeds of coniferous trees, while the goldfinch dines on the deciduous varieties, especially birches.

The thistle or niger seed you buy to entice these little finches is from a plant native to India. The pine siskin is a notorious gypsy wanderer, but it is a native North American. Like most of the finch family species, it is abundant in the spruce-fir forests of Canada. This huge belt of forest extends south into northern New York and northern New England.

Some winters the pine siskin does not even bother leaving it breeding forests, since the seed crop is abundant enough to last the entire winter. However, in some years the evergreen trees do not produce a cone crop, and the birds must wander to find food. Unlike most migrant species, finches do not have a warm weather destination, where insects flourish.

The goldfinch also wanders a lot, but some are always remain around every winter. It consumes weed seeds as well as tree seeds, and there is always something around for the goldfinch to eat in the wild. Whether a bird is present at your feeders depends much more on the availability of wild food nearby then on what you may supply. Feeders only supplement the diet of most species.

All summer my feeders hosted several dozen goldfinch. Then in September the numbers dropped to a handful. Now they are back to about 20 birds. The news of pine siskins arriving in our area was on the hot lines for a week or two before they appeared at my own feeders.

First there was only one, a heavily streaked bird clinging to the thistle bag with the goldfinches. The back and wings are very dark, with even darker streaking and a yellow wing patch or stripe. The undersides are white with dark streaking on the chest and sides. When they spread their wings, as they often do when squabbling at the feeder, the yellow patch shows up clearly though the entire length of the wing.

In a few days I counted a dozen siskins crowding out the goldfinches. The pine siskin seems to be dominant over the goldfinch in any feeding situation. The following day they were entirely absent, as they have been for over a week now. It may be that our local pine trees have not produced a crop either this fall, so the pine siskin may be moving on to more fertile forests.

In some years they have been found in large numbers as far south as the Carolinas and Georgia. The last big winter in southern New England was 1990, when thousands were present in flocks of up to 150 birds. Since then there have been mini invasions almost every other year. In the winter of 1998-99 very few siskins were found anywhere in southern New England.

The word siskin derives from various Scandinavian and Russian words, which all mean to chirp, or a small chirping bird. The pine siskin does have a tendency to chatter and chirp, as do all social species that flock together. Its common calls are delicate like the bird itself, but it also makes a unique sound, a drawn out wheeeiirrr, rising in pitch.

Siskins and goldfinches eat sunflower as well as thistle, but you must always take care to discourage the squirrels from sunflower feeders. The best way is to string a long wire across the yard and hang feeders from that, high enough from the ground and distant enough from overhanging branches.

If siskins come, they may come in droves, crowding out goldfinches and chickadees. Unlike the chickadees, they are not averse to alighting on the ground and eating. There is nothing like the sight of dozens of siskins camped on the ground under the feeders, suddenly rushing away in a noisy cloud if spooked by a potential predator. I hope the dark gypsy returns to stay.

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