Pine Siskin - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Avidbirdman
Frisco, Colorado, USA, 11 November 2005

Spinus pinus

Carduelis pinus

Identification

11-14 cm (4.3-5.5 in)

• Short, forked tail
• Long, pointed wings
• Long, slender bill
• Brown body with heavy streaking
• Yellow wing and tail patches

Male

Bright yellow wingbars

Distribution

Female left, male right on thistle socks.
Photo © by Daddylion
South-eastern Michigan, USA, Februrary 2009

Canada, Alaska and northern parts of the United States, occasionally travelling much further south in cold winters. They have been observed in Texas during the 2008-2009 winter.

Taxonomy

Formerly placed in genus Carduelis.

Subspecies^[1]

• S. p. pinus:

• Coniferous forests of southern Alaska to US; winters to central Mexico

• S. p. macroptera:

• Coniferous forests of northern Baja California, north-western and central Mexico

• S. p. perplexus:

• Mountains of southern Mexico (Chiapas) to south-western Guatemala

Habitat

Coniferous and deciduous forests, woodlands, parks, shade trees near human habitation, alder thickets, and brushy pastures.

Behaviour

Diet

Includes seeds, plant parts and some insects.

Breeding

The female builds a large, shallow cup of twigs, grass, bark strips, rootlets, leaves, and lichen, lined with moss, plant down, hair, and feathers. 3 to 4 eggs are laid and incubated by the female for about 13 days. She is fed by the male. The young leave the nest after 13 to 17 days, and the parents continue to feed the young for about three more weeks.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Wikipedia contributors. (2020, April 14). Pine siskin. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:00, May 22, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pine_siskin&oldid=950956350
3. Dawson, W. R. (2020). Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.pinsis.01
4. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 2019. Pine_Siskin in: All About Birds. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/ Accessed on 22May 2020.

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Pine Siskin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Pine_Siskin

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