Identification & Description:
• Small, seed-eating finch
• Short, conical bill
• Brown upperparts with heavy streaking
• Brown and heavily streaked, paler underneath.
• Yellow patches in wings and tail-not always visible
• Short, forked tail
• Distinctive call note given in flight
• Size: 11-14 cm (4-6 in)
• Wingspan: 18-22 cm (7-9 in)
• Weight: 12-18 g (0.42-0.64 ounces)

Similar species:
The Pine Siskin can be identified by its yellow patches in the wings and tail. When these are not visible, as on a perched bird, it can look like a sparrow. It is smaller than sparrows and lacks a pale supercilium.

Life History Groupings
• Migration Status: Short distance migrant
• Breeding Habitat: Woodland
• Nest Location: Mid-story/canopy nesting
• Nest Type: Open-cup
• Clutch Size: 2-6
• Length of Incubation: 13 days
• Days to Fledge:14-15
• Number of Broods: 2?
• Diet:
Mostly: Seeds
Lesser Quantities of: Insects

Facts
• The Pine Siskin is the commonest of the irruptive “winter finches.”

• The Pine Siskin is gregarious even in the breeding season. It nests in loose colonies, and pairs may visit one another’s nests. The nest is defended against other siskins primarily during egg laying and incubation. Breeding birds flock together to forage.

• Following a large irruptive winter flight, some individuals may stay near a dependable food source and breed far south of the normal breeding range.The heavily insulated nest helps keep the eggs warm in cold climates. In addition, the female incubates the eggs constantly, and is absent from the nest only for brief periods. Her mate feeds her while she sits on the nest.

Other Names
Chardonneret des pins, Tarin des pins (French)
Piñonero rayado, Dominiquito piñero (Spanish)

Siskins belong to the family Fringillidae of the order Passeriformes. The Eurasian siskin is classified as Carduelis spinus and the North American pine siskin as Carduelis pinus.

Siskin, common name for several species of finch, that usually have more finely pointed bills than other members of the same genus. Best known are two closely related species, the Eurasian siskin and the North American pine siskin. The American bird is heavily streaked with dark brown and pale buff, sometimes with a yellow tinge, and a yellow patch in the wing and at the base of the tail. Females and young of the Eurasian species are similar, but more obviously washed with yellow, with a yellow patch on the rump. Males are quite different, with a clear yellow breast, inconspicuously streaked back, a black cap and chin, and much more yellow in wings and tail. Both species are about 12 cm (about 4.75 in) long. They tend to prefer coniferous trees, but can often be found in other woody habitats. Fourteen American and two African species are also called siskins; these have various combinations of black, yellow, and red in their plumage but are not streaked like the two northern species.