Pine siskin Carduelis pinus

Identification Tips:

• Length: 4.25 inches
• Small, seed-eating bird
• Short, conical bill
• Brown upperparts with heavy streaking
• Pale underparts with heavy streaking
• Yellow patches in wings and tail-not always visible
• Short, forked tail
• Distinctive call note given in flight

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.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.