Siskin

Carduelis spinus

Siskin

Siskins are like greenfinches but smaller or to put it another way Greenfinches are like siskins on steroids. The Male has quite bright plumage with yellows and greens. The female is less garish as befits the bird that does the incubation. Siskins have forked tails and their beaks are longer and more pointed that is usually for a finch because they are adapted to getting seeds out of cones.

Some of the Siskin song sounds similar to that of greenfinches too - various churrings and then some (to my ears) rather incoherent and chaotic chatterings. If you slow down the audio track of any bird song you are likely to find enormous complexity which is simply beyond the human ear to detect and so I hesitate to be too pejorative. The purpose of bird song is communication with other birds about territories and other matters of avine importance. Their songs are not intended for our ears.

In spring and summer siskins will pair up to breed and blend into the foliage although they can be frequent visitors to bird tables where they have an inordinate liking for peanuts, sunflower hearts and niger seeds and are as adept as any member of the tit family in hanging upside down. They nest in the tops of conifers where they are usually out of human reach.

They are feisty too in spite of their small size and will see off other larger birds.

In winter siskins tend to group into flocks and these can number up to about fifty individuals although they are often smaller. Away from bird tables they can be observed seeking seeds and maybe insects in trees such as the birch or alder.

I observed a flock of ten birds the other day on the Atholl Estate feeding acrobatically on the swinging twigs of a silver birch. Rather incongruously they were accompanied by a pair of bullfinches. More often they will be found with lesser redpolls in the winter. When the siskins left the bullfinches stayed and so it was probably an accidental association with food supply providing the motivation.

Recent observations in Kinloch Rannoch suggest that the numbers of siskins has dropped of late. I have heard of Jackdaws being blamed but I think the jury is out on that.

(2nd January 2020)

Photo - Creative Commons - credit Francesco Veronesi