I had never seen a Pine Siskin before. I was thrilled to see one passing through and enjoying some of the niger seed with our Goldfinches. What a treat! Then when I did some research about their migration and breeding habits, I was even more pleased it stopped by when I saw their own migration map at this link and found out how much further it's got to go. It'll be way up north with all of our Dark-eyed Juncos and the White-Capped Sparrow that passed through a couple of weeks ago.
http://tinyurl.com/oks9cr


and here's a few pics of our regular visitors...
Male House Finch...

Male House Sparrow...

Some of the Goldfinches are still in "molting mode". this male is the 1st one of ours that is in it's full bright golden coat. The females certainly do notice him more than the other males right now...they all swoon when they see him...

Here's one still molting...

And here's one of the ladies (also still molting)...


Susan Louise
from Branford CT/ live in Lincoln NE
Zone 5

nice captures Susan Louise. I have never seen pine siskins until a few weeks ago here also. At first I thought they were just a different kind of sparrow until I looked them up in my book.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Thanks Penny...
Although it's not uncommon to see a Pine Siskin (for me it's still a new one to add to my "lifer list"), it's definately refreshing and fun to see new and different birds!
Like you, I almost had mistaken it for another bird...with you it was a Sparrow, for me I thought it was a female House Finch til I looked closer at it's narrow beak.

Susan Louise
from Branford CT/ live in Lincoln NE
Zone 5

It actually was a toss up between the female house finch and the hosps. but since I usually since the house finches come to the feeder in pairs I discounted those and went for the HOSPS.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Hmm ... I'm going to have to look closer at my similar birds. I would have thought that was a sparrow. I do keep a field guide on my porch, but haven't checked it for something similar to your pine siskin. Next time I will look that up specifically!

Carol

Carol R
Tennessee
USDA Hardiness Zone 7
Heat Zone 7

Nice pics!

Maryjane
W Ga
Zone 8a

Nice pictures. Pine Siskins are one of my favorite feeder birds.

Jeff