GARDEN BIRDS 9- THE SISKIN

 

Hi! Welcome back to the ninth (and last) post of my Garden Birds section! If I have missed out any birds, or if you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment below. I love reading your comments and suggestions. And before I start, I would just like to mention some good news- after posting about greenfinches and saying that I rarely saw them in  my local area, I saw a flock of them in the park! As I was on my way home from school I didn't have my binoculars; but I was able to identify them through their calls using an app called Chirpamatic! 🐦 

Now, as you can hopefully tell from the title of this blog, I am going to be talking about Siskins (scientific name: carduelis spinus).  With a porcelain belly; an almost lemon-yellow head and rump, and deep charcoal stripes on its wings; the male is quite distinctive. However, the female is duller, yet still with the same colours- almost as if you re viewing them through a steamed-up window. There are other obvious differences too.

Siskins are smart and will appreciate any peanuts in your garden, especially in late winter and early spring. As with many other birds, we get an influx of winter migrants which supplement the numbers in winter from icy Scandinavia. This bird favours conifers, as well as spruce and alder. Lastly, their call, often given-like its cousin the Greenfinch- in flight, is nasal and can feature notes such as tuwee and spiyu. The call has the same nasal voice, but is more jangling.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about the siskin, please comment and let me know if you have any in your garden because I would like some tips- I haven't seen any in mine!