Are these PIne Siskins?

[smittyone@cox.net]

Seen in DeSoto National Wildlife Reserve, western IA, this afternoon.  About the same size as Am. Goldfinch, of which there were many in the area.  Their range map clearly shows Pine Siskins are in my area during non-breeding.  But, the only time(s) I've ever seen them was in northern MN in winter.

[HamRHead]

Yes, you got it!

[Charlie Spencer]

11 hours ago, smittyone@cox.net said:

Their range map clearly shows Pine Siskins are in my area during non-breeding.  But, the only time(s) I've ever seen them was in northern MN in winter.

Pine Siskins are irruptive; that is, they aren't reliable migrants and will show up only in some or none of their non-breeding range.  There are several other seed eaters that move out of their breeding range based mostly on what food sources are available in their normal haunts.

Here's last year's irruption predictions from a gent who's been doing them for years.  

http://www.jeaniron.ca/2019/wff19.htm

Keep an eye on this link to see when the 2020-21 predictions come out.

http://www.jeaniron.ca/WFFindex.htm

And here's more on how Ron Pittaway does it, and on irruption itself.

[Tony Leukering]

Pine Siskins have been on the move this fall since August, along with the usual movement compadre, Red-breasted Nuthatch. Both species tend to move in the same years, and usually in alternate years. This fall has been nowhere near as huge for either species as fall 2017.

Here is the Aug-Sep 2020 eBird map.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Tony Leukering
addition

[Tony Leukering]

In the map linked in previous response, click the "Show Points Sooner" check box, then drill into the map until you get all the pins in eastern Colorado. Because eastern Colorado is birded much more extensively than any other portion of the western Great Plains, various phenomena are more easily seen on eBird maps there. I've put in a screen capture of the relevant portion of that map, but it's not the same as looking at the actual data presentation on eBird. The western edge of the map is in the Colorado mountains, hence the higher density of reports.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Tony Leukering
addition