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Project Noah Nature School
Spinus pinus
Only saw this small bird briefly. Pine Siskins are very small songbirds with sharp, pointed bills and short, notched tails. Their uniquely shaped bill is more slender than that of most finches. In flight, look for their forked tails and pointed wingtips.
It was in the trees outside the education building at Armand Bayou Nature Center. There was birdseed on the hand rails.
Upper Texas Coast (UTC 081) ARMAND BAYOU NATURE CENTER: A system of nature trails honeycombs the property, and the center operates a pontoon boat that plies the waters of Armand Bayou. ABNC staff and volunteers have spent countless hours restoring several hundred acres of coastal prairie, and grassland species such as Sedge Wren and Le Conte’s Sparrow are not difficult to find here. ABNC staff is available to answer questions about when and where to bird in the Clear Lake area.
Thanks Ken. I have not seen one of these since I moved to North TX. It was a good birding trip to the coast and I saw lots of new things. Now all I have to do is get them all posted. :)
Very nice spotting and support information. This has been an unusual year for pine siskins. I've had 30 or more at one time at my thistle seed feeders this year. Some years, we hardly get any.
James Funk you and Tom 15 have given me enough information to be confident that it was indeed a Pine Siskin. My gratitude to the both of you. :)
OkieHerper thank you for your suggestion. I have Redwings here at home all the time and this bird was just not that big and did not have the eye stripe that I use to ID females and juveniles. It does really fit the Pine Siskin markings and photos I have found. Range was the issue for that choice. :)
I believe the reason you cannot clearly see the yellow is because of the way this bird is holding it's wings. If the wing tips were held even with or below the tail feathers you would see the yellow. I looked through the 2+ dozen photos I took of a flock of 70+ Siskins that invaded my feeders and several pictures do not show the yellow. Also, (may just be wishful thinking on my part) if you look closely at your close up photo you will see a hint of yellow on the edges of the primary wing feathers(compare to the white edges of the smaller wing feathers)
1.)All About Birds Range map lists as Winter (non-breeding) in Texas
2.)This year has been an "irruption" year for many small birds such as the Siskin, travelling far from usual range
3.)The size, color pattern and pointy beak point be to Pine Siskin
Tom, did comparison and range research on Pine Siskin. This spotting does look very similar to photos I could find, however the birding list all say rare for this area. Bird forum does state that they were spotted in Texas during the 2008-2009 winter. The habitat they like is similar to the habitat I was in, but I am reluctant to name a "rare" bird without more supporting information. Thank you and I will continue to look for current winter information supporting your suggestion. If you can tell me more about how you identified the spottings, I would love to have that information to help my reference search :)
Kim, comparing the tail of a spotted towhee juvenile, there is not a match. This ones tail is much shorter and appears to be notched not rounded. Nor does it have the white edging on the wing feathers of the juvenile spotted towhee. Thank you and I would be happy to look at any other ideas :)
Thank you for your suggestion Tom, since I am traveling in a different area of Texas, I will research your suggestion further. The day was overcast and the forest did not have great light, so colors may be muted. :)
I don't believe it would be a Pine Siskin. A lot of distribution maps I've looked at show they're not very common in that part of Texas. Also there is no yellow on this bird which Pine Siskin have, including juveniles.
I thought of sparrow size when I saw it. It was a brief encounter. I will look at a reference and see if it matches. Thank you for the suggestion. :)
Spotted on Feb 28, 2013
Submitted on Mar 7, 2013
