Pine Siskin

In the Birds of the World, Dawson (2020) writes "The opportunistic nature of [Pine Siskins and their] partial indifference to constraints of time and space make [them] an intriguing subject for a variety of studies.” They usually breed across northern North America and south through the Rockies into Central America. They winter across southern Canada and almost all of the United States. Pine Siskins are an irruptive species, abundant one year and often absent the next—probably in response to the abundance of seed  crops. If there is enough food, siskins may breed in areas where they usually just winter. During my 25 years of banding in Aberdeen, South Dakota, I banded 13,239 Pine Siskins. Two recoveries illustrate their nomadic nature--one banded in Aberdeen on 10 March 1985 was found in Connecticut on 11 March 1988; another Aberdeen siskin, banded on 12 December 1992 was recovered near San Francisco, California, on 5 January 1995.

Here in western Washington, siskins breed and winter. This year is an irruptive year elsewhere in the United States. Our banded backyard breeding birds appear to be displaced by huge, swirling flocks of visitors. Erika and I took this photo of one of a flock of at least 30 birds at the Nisqually national wildlife refuge on 9 November 2020.