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[Phyl]

Pine Siskin,
Spinus pinus



The Pine Siskin is a regular winter visitor to Tennessee, but its abundance varies greatly from year to year. This is one of the "irruptive" winter finches and the variation in the number of wintering birds are thought to be associated with annual variations in the production of northern conifer cones.

The Pine Siskin is a gregarious species and is usually found in flocks during the winter when it often visits thistle seed bird feeders. Pine Siskins are regularly observed in the summer in East Tennessee at higher elevations, but nesting has only recently been confirmed on Roan Mountain. It is not uncommon for siskins to remain and nest far south of the normal breeding range following a large irruptive winter.

The Pine Siskin range extends across Alaska and Canada to the northern United States and the western mountains. In some winters, they remain throughout the breeding range, in others, they migrate south as far as the Gulf Coast.

Description: The Pine Siskin is a small, heavily streaked brown finch with a thin, pointed bill, and a short, notched tail. Yellow patches in the wing and tail are especially visible in flight. The male and female look similar, but the male tends to have more yellow. Pine Siskins generally forage in flocks high in trees, and their call notes, which are frequently given in flight, often reveal their presence.

Length: 5"
Wingspan: 9"
Weight: 0.53 oz

Voice: The call is a buzzy ascending zzzzzeeeeep. The fight-call is a high, sharp ji ji ji.

Similar Species:

American Goldfinches are not streaked above or below.
Yellow-rumped Warblers are much less heavily streaked, have a yellow-rump, no yellow in the wings, and their bill is smaller and thinner.
Habitat: Pine Siskins breed in open coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests; in winter they are found in coniferous and deciduous forests, as well as residential areas with thistle seed birdfeeders.

Diet: Small seeds; also tree buds, insects, and spiders.

[Phyl]

Pine Siskin,
continued

Status in Tennessee: Pine Siskins are an unpredictable winter visitor across the state and a rare summer visitor in East Tennessee. There are numerous summer records from Roan Mountain and occasionally from Shady Valley. The first nest for this species in Tennessee was found on May 2007 at 4,450 feet elevation on Roan Mountain; another nest was found near that same location in 2008.

Map of Pine Siskin eBird observations in Tennessee


Fun Facts:

The Pine Siskin is gregarious even in the breeding season. They nest in loose colonies, and pairs may visit one another's nests. The nest is defended against other Pine Siskins primarily during egg laying and incubation. Breeding birds flock together to forage.
Following a large irruptive winter flight, some individuals may stay near a dependable food source and breed far south of the normal breeding range.
Obsolete English Names: pine finch, pine linnet, American siskin

Best places to see in Tennessee: The occurrence of Pine Siskins in Tennessee is unpredictable winter-to-winter. In irruption years they can be found across the state foraging in flocks in the tree canopy, and frequently visit thistle seed bird feeders.

[Phyl]

Pine Siskin,
continued






Sources:

Knight, R. L. 2008. The Birds of Northeast Tennessee. Universal Printing, Bristol, VA.

Nicholson, C. P. 1997. Atlas of Breeding Birds of Tennessee. Univ. of TN Press, Knoxville.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY.

[Phyl]

American Goldfinch
Spinus tristis




Most Tennesseans are familiar with the striking yellow and black plumage of the male American Goldfinch. However, in winter its plumage is so different that many people don't recognize it as the same species.

Goldfinches are unusual in that seeds make up a large part of their annual diet, and as a consequence, they do not start nesting until July when more seeds are available to feed the young.   American Goldfinches are a common year-round resident in Tennessee. In winter they forage mainly in flocks and frequently visit birdfeeders.

The breeding range extends across southern Canada and the northern two-thirds of the United States, and in winter they are found across the continental United States, and into Mexico.

Description: The male in breeding plumage (March-October) is bright lemon-yellow with a strongly contrasting black forehead, wings, and tail. The breeding female is olive above, dull yellow below, with blackish tail and wings, and two pale wing-bars.

During the non-breeding season (October-March) both male and female are a dull, unstreaked brown, with blackish wings and two pale wing-bars. The male usually has more yellow in the face and on the shoulder. The bill of breeding season birds is pinkish and gray during the non-breeding season.

Length: 5"
Wingspan: 9"
Weight: 0.46 oz

Voice: The song is a variable series of musical trills and twitters, often interspersed with a bay beephrase. The distinctive flight call is described as sounding like potato chip or per chick ory.

Similar Species:

Pine Siskins have streaking on the back and chest, and the yellow is confined mostly to the wings and tail. They are sometimes found in flocks with goldfinches in the winter.
Habitat: American Goldfinches breed in weedy fields, fencerows, woodland edges, orchards, and gardens. They winter in weedy, open areas, and move into urban and suburban areas to eat at feeders.

Diet: Seeds, especially composite flowers like dandelions, sunflowers, and thistle. They eat a few insects.

Nesting and reproduction: The American Goldfinch is the latest nesting species in Tennessee. It normally starts nest construction in July and egg-laying extends from mid-July into September; females occasionally raise two broods in a season. Goldfinches tend to nest in loose aggregations with the male defending only a small area around the nest.

Clutch Size: The range is 3 to 6 eggs, with an average of 5 eggs in Tennessee nests.

Incubation: The female incubates the eggs for 12 to 14 days. She is often fed by the male, who regurgitates food into her mouth.

Fledging: Both adults feed the young. Chicks usually leave the nest in 13 to 15 days.

Nest: The female does most of the nest building. The open cup-nest is constructed of fine plant fibers, grasses, and down from thistles or cattails, and lined with plant down. It is placed in a small shrub and lashed to branches with spider silk. Nest heights in Tennessee range from 3 to 25 feet above the ground, with the average being 7.5 feet.

[Phyl]

American Goldfinch
continued

Status in Tennessee: The American Goldfinch is a fairly common year-round resident in Middle and West Tennessee, and somewhat less common in the East. Numbers increase during the winter when more northerly breeders join the resident population. American Goldfinch populations appear to be stable.



Fun Facts:

The American Goldfinch changes from its winter plumage to its breeding plumage through a complete molt of all its body feathers. It is the only member of its family to have this second molt in the spring; all the other species have just one molt each year at the end of the breeding season.
The American Goldfinch is gregarious year-round. In winter, they are found almost exclusively in flocks of varying sizes. In the breeding season, it often feeds in small groups.
The American Goldfinch is mostly monogamous, but a number of females switch mates after producing their first brood. The first male typically takes care of the fledglings while the female goes off to start another brood with a different male.
Obsolete English Names: eastern goldfinch, yellow goldfinch, thistle-bird, yellow-bird, wild canary

[Phyl]

American Goldfinch
continued

Best places to see in Tennessee: American Goldfinch are most common in Middle and East Tennessee. They forage in flocks during the winter and frequently visit bird feeders, especially thistle seed feeders.








Sources:

Middleton, A. L. 1993. American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis), The Birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Nicholson, C. P. 1997. Atlas of Breeding Birds of Tennessee. Univ. of TN Press, Knoxville.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY.

[Phyl]

House Sparrow,
Passer domesticus



The House Sparrow is an Old World sparrow that was introduced into Brooklyn, New York in 1851. It found ample food in the manure left behind horse-drawn carriages, plenty of breeding sites in human-built structures, and spread across the continent by 1910.

It is native to most of Europe and much of Asia, and has been intentionally or accidentally introduced to most of Central and South America, sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. It is now the most widely distributed wild bird on the planet! The House Sparrow is quite aggressive and takes nesting sites from other species, and is known to forcibly evict Purple Martins and Eastern Bluebirds from their nest boxes.

Description: The House Sparrow is a small, stocky songbird with a streaked back, an unstreaked gray chest, and a thick bill. The male has a reddish back, one broad white wingbar, white cheeks, and a black bib on the throat and upper chest. In winter, the black bib is partially hidden by buffy tips on the throat feathers (these tips wear off in the spring). The female is a dingy brown overall, with a large buffy eye-stripe.

Length: 6.25"
Wingspan: 9.5"
Weight: 0.98 oz

Voice: The song is a very monotonous series of loud even-pitched chirps.

Similar Species:

Although the female House Sparrow looks much like other American sparrows, her stocky build, short tail, plain brown crown (top of the head) and buffy eye-stripe distinguish her from other species.
Habitat: Found in human modified habitats, including farms, residential and urban areas.

Diet: Seeds, especially waste grain and livestock feed. Also weed seeds and insects.

Nesting and reproduction: The breeding season for House Sparrows extends from March into August. They are very aggressive around potential nesting sites and will forcibly evict the occupants of cavities, sometimes building their nest on top of another active nest. House Sparrows will raise one to 4 broods per season.

Clutch Size: The range is from 2 to 8 eggs, with 4 or 5 eggs most common.

Incubation: The female does most of the incubation, and the eggs hatch in about 12 days.

Fledging: Both adults, and often helpers, feed the young, which fledge in 12 to 14 days.

Nest: The male and female usually build the nest in a natural or artificial cavity such as a woodpecker hole, nest box, or under the eave of a building. The nest is a ball of dried grass, feathers, string, and paper, with an opening on the sid

[Phyl]

House Sparrow,
continued

Status in Tennessee: The House Sparrow is a locally abundant year round resident in Tennessee. Numbers in the state have been declining in urban and suburban areas, but appear to be stable in agricultural areas. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act does not protect House Sparrows.

Map of House Sparrow eBird observations in Tennessee

Fun Facts:

Eight pairs of House Sparrows were released in the spring of 1851 in Brooklyn, New York. Their spread throughout the west was aided by additional introductions in many cities including San Francisco (1871), and Salt Lake City (1873). House Sparrows were breeding from coast to coast by 1910.
Another common name for the House Sparrow is English Sparrow. This is because the first birds released in 1851 were from England. That first release was unsuccessful but releases in 1852 and 1853 established the bird in New York City.
The first House Sparrows in Tennessee were probably the 4 pairs released in Knoxville in 1874. Birds were also released in Memphis at about that same time, and were established statewide by 1886.
The oldest known House Sparrow in the wild died at 15 years, 9 months old.
Obsolete English Names: English sparrow

[Phyl]

House Sparrow,
continued

Best places to see in Tennessee: The House Sparrow can be seen in any urban area across the state and around farmyards in most agricultural areas.

[Phyl]

House Sparrow,
continued






Sources:

Lowther, P. E. and C. L. Cink. 2006. House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), The Birds of North America, No. 12 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Nicholson, C. P. 1997. Atlas of Breeding Birds of Tennessee. Univ. of TN Press, Knoxville.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY.
                                                                     

[Phyl]

Greetings everyone !
Sending wishes for a year full of health, prosperity and happiness.