Fun Facts About Pine Siskin

• Pine Siskins become considerably plumper through accumulation of fat with the onset of winter. Each bird can pack enough seeds into its expandable esophagus to support itself through five hours of rest at –4º F temperatures.
• Pine Siskins have difficulty opening the large seeds of striped sunflower but enjoy black-oil sunflower seed, chips and Nyjer.
• A siskin may take up a position near an Evening Grosbeak that is eating larger seeds like striped sunflower to pick up dropped particles and will even defend the position against other siskins.
• Pine Siskins may nest in loose colonies and will tolerate the occasional visit to one another's nests after their young are hatched.
• The Pine Siskin is the most common of the "winter finches" to be found at your feeders…but not every year.  An “irruption” migration usually takes place every two or three years that can bring large numbers of Siskins to your backyard.
• The Pine Siskin irruption migrations mainly occur when the seed crop has failed in the boreal forests. In some years large flocks may appear as far south as Florida.
• Some “irruptive” Siskins may stay near a dependable food source and nest far south of the normal breeding range.
• The primary natural foods of Pine Siskins are the seeds of hemlocks, alders, birches, and cedars.
• Pine Siskins, like most northern finches, are fond of salt. They seek out natural salt licks and in the winter they can be found along highways eating the salt used to melt ice and snow.
• Siskins, crossbills and other finches have been observed eating flaking mortar as a source of sodium and calcium.

Fun Facts About Redpolls

• A study in Alaska documented that Common Redpolls could survive temperatures of -65°F. 
• Irruptive migrations of Common Redpolls and Purple Finches typically occur every two years or so.
• A Common Redpoll banded in Michigan was subsequently recovered in eastern Siberia.
• Common Redpolls will quickly gather numerous whole seeds and store them in an expandable section of their throat called the diverticulum. Once the have flown to the safety of dense cover they will regurgitate the whole seed, husk it and then re-swallow the nut meat. They will also fill the diverticulum with seed just before the onset of darkness in order to provide an extra source of energy to help them survive the night.

Fun Facts About Purple Finches

• The Purple Finch is the state bird of New Hampshire.
• During the winter Purple Finch will often forage and roost with mixed flocks of Pine Siskin and American Goldfinch. In these flocks they are socially dominate over the goldfinch and subordinate to the siskin. Watch for signs of this “pecking order” at your feeders.
• There was a time when Purple Finches were kept as caged birds because of their pleasing song.
• Purple Finches can be attracted to sources of salt.
• Leaf and flower buds are part of a Purple Finches diet. Fruit trees actually suffer little damage and may even benefit from this avian pruning.
• The average lifespan of a Purple Finch is estimated at two years.