Pine siskin

Expand all

More names for this bird

The Dakota and Anishinaabe were among the earliest people to name Minnesota’s plants and animals, as well as to understand them in relation to Minnesota’s climate and seasons. Those original names are still in use, and several are included on the Season Watch website. However, complete translations were not available.

Latin (or scientific name): Carduelis pinus

The scientific community has a convention of assigning agreed-upon Latin names to every kind of organism. Using scientific names helps people communicate confidently about the same organism and organize lifeforms based on how closely related they are.

Page contents

About the pine siskin

Migration animation

Visual guide to phenology

Audio resources

More resources

A pine siskin is perched on a bare branch. Behind it is a spruce bough. The bird is streaky with shades of grayish brown, pale yellow, white, and nearly black.
Pine siskin perched in a conifer.
May 9, 2015, Beltrami County, Minnesota
Photo © Linda McColley, some rights reserved (CC-BY)
iNaturalist observation

About the pine siskin

  • The pine siskin is a small finch with a short, notched tail and a slender, sharp pointed bill.
  • They are streaked with brown and have yellow highlights on their wing and tail edges.
  • Pine siskins tend to nest in open coniferous or mixed forests, but can also be found in suburban woodlands and parks.
  • Pine siskins migrate. Expand the "Migration animation" section below to learn more. Every couple of years, pine siskins make unpredictable movements called irruptions into eastern and southern North America. These movements may not be entirely random. Data from banding suggest that some birds fly west-east across the continent, while others move north-south. Learn more about pine siskin movements at Project FeederWatch.

Expand all

Migration animation

Click the full-frame icon (lower right corner of video) to play at full size.

More about eBird's abundance animations

eBird data from 2006-2020. Estimated for 2020. Fink, D., T. Auer, A. Johnston, M. Strimas-Mackey, O. Robinson, S. Ligocki, W. Hochachka, L. Jaromczyk, C. Wood, I. Davies, M. Iliff, L. Seitz. 2021. eBird Status and Trends, Data Version: 2020; Released: 2021. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. https://doi.org/10.2173/ebirdst.2020

Visual guide to phenology

Watch for pine siskins' presence (or absence), abundance, and behaviors at different times of year.

Expand all

Note to observers

This page explains general clues to watch for when observing pine siskin phenology. However, this page does not instruct observers on how to identify this bird or collect data in a standardized way.

A pine siskin has a seed in its bill as it perches on a seed head. The bird has a small sharp bill and is overall pale with gray-brown streaks.
Two pine siskins are perched on a roof. Small brown cones are scattered across the roof and are possibly a food source for the small finches.
A flock of five pine siskins are on the ground, feeding on seeds and mealworms. Their bodies are streaky, with shades of white, gray, brown with and pale yellow.
A single pine siskin is perched on the shade-dappled ground. Its body is well-camouflaged.
A single pine siskin is silhouetted against a pale blue sky. It is perched on a pine bough with lichens.
A single pine siskin is on the ground. It's brown, streaky body is well-camouflaged against the soil. The bird holds a white, tangled thread in its pointy bill.
Seven pine siskins are crowded around a birdfeeder. The bird feeder is a vertical column containing seeds. The background is a snowy winter scene.

 

Audio resources

Visit All About Birds for recordings of songs and calls by pine siskins.

More resources

Pine siskin (Carduelis pinus) in the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas

 

 

Expand all

Keep exploring Season Watch

Gray circular icon with illustrations of a magnifying lens, a frog, and a conifer twig.

Explore page
State of Minnesota

Minnesota places
Circular icon with an illustrated flower, sun, falling leaf, and snowflake to represent the four seasons

Times of year

Co-author: Jayme Hogan, Minnesota Master Naturalist