Outdoor Ontario

Birding Reports => Backyard Birding => Topic started by: silverfoxx on March 08, 2009, 01:45:37 PM

Title: more siskins but where are the redpolls?
Post by: silverfoxx on March 08, 2009, 01:45:37 PM

I started to see pine siskins at my feeders in early January and they have been my most frequent visitors ever since. There are usually 5 or 6, sometimes as many as 15. They are so constant that I began to think I must have mistakenly not identified them last year. In reading these posts though, I've noticed several people saying that this year they have seen siskins at their feeders for the first time. Now I've read Project FeederWatch information stating there are more siskins in larger flocks expanding into new areas all over the contintent.

My question is what's happened to the redpolls? Last year I had flocks of 10 - 16 redpolls at my feeder every day from late January through February along with a few goldfinches. The goldfinches are here again but I haven't seen a single redpoll. Are other people having this experience?

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Post by: Greg Schneider on March 08, 2009, 06:43:00 PM

Almost all redpolls here and few siskins in the Hamilton area. Over the winter redpolls generally outnumbered siskins.

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Post by: Misty01 on March 08, 2009, 11:53:25 PM

yeah I have to agree with Greg on this one.

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Post by: guinness on March 13, 2009, 08:25:30 AM

Out in Whitby its been the other way around for me. The Siskins have far out numbered the Redpolls by atleast 5 to 1.

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Post by: Bluffs Birder on March 13, 2009, 08:54:29 PM

Here in southern Scarborough, we've had Pine Siskins at the nyjer feeder almost everyday for 2 months, usually only 2, some days 4, 6, or even 8 but in late January and early February we had as many as 13.  Only one day this winter did we have 19 Redpolls come to visit.

Walter