Claire

I had a very yellow Pine Siskin visit my feeders around Christmas.  As well as having strong yellow/green tones (though not on the sides) it also had very weak streaking below.

Speaking of Siskins we've had a few at our feeders daily ever since the influx just before Christmas but today we had over a dozen at one time, so perhaps there is another push of these birds through the area?

Regards

Clive Harris
Cabin John, MD



--- On Sat, 1/10/09, Claire Wolfe <> wrote:

> From: Claire Wolfe <>
> Subject: [MDOSPREY] unusual pine siskin in Germantown
> To: 
> Date: Saturday, January 10, 2009, 4:37 PM
> Today at my thistle feeder I had an unusual looking Pine
> Siskin.  My original impression of the bird was of a
> somewhat light siskin with very extensive yellow in the
> wings and tail.  In fact, when this bird settled down on
> the feeder the yellow was clearly visible on the folded wing
> and tail, not just the typical hint of yellow at the base of
> the flight and tail feathers.  The lightness of the bird
> was due to it being very faintly and diffusely striped
> compared to the other siskins it was feeding with.
>  
> Looking in my field guides I found that Sibley has a
> picture of what he calls a "Yellow adult" with
> the comment "scarce; most frequent in
> southwest".  That picture is a fairly good
> representation of the bird I saw, although the bird at my
> feeder did not have a noticeable yellow wash along the sides
> as this picture depicts.  I did not get a good look at the
> undertail coverts to see if they were yellow as this picture
> shows.
>  
> At any rate, it was an interesting bird.  I live at the
> edge of Black Hills Regional Park, not far from the visitor
> center, as the siskin flies.  If you are at Black Hills, it
> is worth keeping an eye out for this bird.
>  
> Claire Wolfe
> Germantown