Birds I'm Watching: Pine Siskins (December 10, 2010)

Another rainy day today. Sitting idly by the window, watching the bird feeder, I noticed a bird that looked unfamiliar. From a distance I think I would have dismissed it as a female House Finch, but the streaking was too strong, the bird was too small for a House Finch (about the size of a Lesser Goldfinch), and I noticed a hint of yellow in the folded wings--all of which said Pine Siskin to me. Eventually five showed up, quite aggressively shooing away other birds that tried to use the feeder.

I suppose Pine Siskins have been in the yard before. I probably simply never bothered to look closely enough to tell. A new feeder closer to the window probably helped. This, however, is the first time I've had a good look at one and known what I was looking at. That brings my Sonoma County total to 200 species, my life total to 325, and makes a 54th yardbird. I got a good photo of one of them, despite shooting through a window. Got a nice shot of an Oak Titmouse as well (below).

For more information about bird watching in Sonoma County, see my Website Sonoma County Birding Spots