Dan P Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 Taken 10-30-2020 in Glendale, CA (backyard). Are these Pine Siskins? They may have been at my feeders a couple days before I took these shots. If so I probably thought they were small, juvenile House Finches when I glanced out there. It took me a long time to come up with Pine Siskin. When I tried using the Search feature on What Bird, the closest I could come was a juvenile Yellow-rumped Warbler. But the bill was wrong and no eye-ring and the yellow was in the wings instead of on the sides. I finally went by brute force and began looking through every perching and clinging bird in California and finally came to my conclusion of it being a Pine Siskin. Any agreement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avery Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 Yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bird Nuts Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 Yes, definitely Pine Siskins. The very pointy bill and yellow in the wings are good ID features. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bird Nuts Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 2 minutes ago, Dan P said: If so I probably thought they were small, juvenile House Finches when I glanced out there. By the way, juvenile House Finches (and all perching birds) are the same size as the adults when they leave the nest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan P Posted November 8, 2020 Author Share Posted November 8, 2020 Thanks everyone. Good to know about juvenile perching birds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Leukering Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 15 hours ago, Dan P said: small, juvenile House Finches when I glanced out there By the time that most young passerines can fly, they are the biggest they will ever be. For most small passerines, that means ten or fewer days after hatching. All of these birds have the typical yellow wing stripes of Pine Siskins, a feature that not shared by any other streaked CA passerine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan P Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 Thanks Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 (edited) On 11/7/2020 at 8:00 PM, Dan P said: I finally went by brute force and began looking through every perching and clinging bird in California and finally came to my conclusion of it being a Pine Siskin. Believe it or not, I think this is a wonderful way to approach bird identification as a beginner. This forces you to have a critical eye, and notice differences and similarities. And after doing it for a while, you'll be able to do it super fast-- because you've had to pour you eyes over every single species, you'll have noticed patterns in plumage, structure, and shape which allow you to instantly rule out certain species. Edited November 9, 2020 by Benjamin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan P Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 Thanks for the tip Benjamin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 5 hours ago, Benjamin said: Believe it or not, I think this is a wonderful way to approach bird identification as a beginner. This forces you to have a critical eye, and notice differences and similarities. And after doing it for a while, you'll be able to do it super fast-- because you've had to pour you eyes over every single species, you'll have noticed patterns in plumage, structure, and shape which allow you to instantly rule out certain species. It also brings your attention to birds you may have been unfamiliar with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonesome55dove Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 (edited) Great photos! 🙂 Edited November 10, 2020 by lonesome55dove 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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