More Siskins

More Pine Siskins have been at the feeders. Pine Siskins are a type of small finch who breed in northern and western areas and come down, or "irrupt" into other areas of the country when their winter food supply of seeds is scarce. They frequentlly show up at bird feeders, often seen there among your American Goldfinches. This one is on a "thistle sock" feeder, a little mesh bag that holds "thistle", i.e. Nyjer seed. This seed is not from the wildflower thistle, but is an imported seed that is sterilized upon import, to prevent sprouting. We find that finches really do like these finch socks. They can cling on them in any manner and often several will be on one sock. The little socks can be washed to make sure they're clean, then refilled with Nyjer seed.

Note the yellow patch on the wing at the base of the primary feathers. This one is on our finch feeder which is filled with "Nyjer Plus", a mix of Nyjer seed and sunflower chips.