Where are my Siskin visitors?
I do get siskins on my garden feeders during the depths of winter but this year they have decided to stay in the countryside. Now I know why thanks to Clare Simm of the BTO Garden !
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News Release
2015-04
January
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This winter has seen incredibly low numbers of Siskins, a small finch that traditionally turns to our gardens for food during the winter, according to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Garden BirdWatch. This is probably due to a bumper crop of Sitka Spruce seeds, but with the recent drop in temperatures, will Siskins return to our gardens before the winter is out?
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 The presence of all birds in gardens is dependent on food availability in the wider countryside and the weather. This particularly applies to Siskins, which love nothing more than the seeds of the Sitka Spruce tree. In years where there are lots of seeds available, Siskins have less need to come into gardens in search of food, except when the weather is wet and the Sitka Spruce cones close up.BTO Garden BirdWatch data show that Siskin numbers usually start to increase in gardens by the end of the year, as the amount of natural food diminishes and the weather worsens. However initial results suggest that at the end of 2014, Garden BirdWatch saw the lowest proportion of gardens reporting Siskins since the survey began in 1995. According to the Forestry Commission, 2014 looks like it was another good year for Sitka Spruce which, combined with a relatively mild and dry winter so far, could be why Siskins are missing from gardens this winter. Clare Simm, from the BTO Garden BirdWatch team, commented: “ It’s always exciting to see a Siskin in the garden, but this year fewer Garden BirdWatchers have had that treat than ever before in the survey. We wouldn’t know this without the help of the public, so if you spend a few minutes each week watching what the birds get up to in your garden, why not get involved? You can contact us for a free magazine and information pack on how to take part.”Will Siskins come flooding back into our garden with the cold weather, or will the Sitka Spruce crop keep them away? Help us find out! To get your free magazine and information pack, or to find out more about the BTO Garden BirdWatch please get in touch by emailing gbw@bto.org, telephoning 01842 750050, or write to GBW, BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU. More information can also be found at www.bto.org/gbw |
British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk. IP24 2PU
Registered Charity No: 216652 (England & Wales) SC039193 (Scotland)
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Hi George
No siskins sadly but greenfinch, bullfinch blackcap long tailed tits, and striking goldcrest, our smallest bird, sighted two in our evergreens. Topping up feeders twice a day. Will keep a lookout for siskins.
Regards Marian
Marian, that also is a very nice list, esp 2 goldcrests! Looking forward to spring… 🙂 Cheers George
No siskins but lots of others such as blue tit, great tit, coal tits, long tail tit, goldfinch, chaffinch, nuthatch, greater spotted woodpecker, and lots of blackbird on the ground. Feeders are topped up once per day at the moment, but with the snow coming in we all need to look after our feathered friends. regards Roger
Nice to hear from you Roger and nice bird list! Keep up the good work! Cheers, George
Last winter we had siskins, bramlings and redpolls on our feeders but no sign of any of them this year. Is it something to do with the weather, we have all our usuals, tits, finches etc and also 3 jays that feed from our hanging bird table.
Difficult to say Linda, perhaps this story is similar for these birds? Cheers, George
Hi recently saw a bird landed on my friends foot while near water at Scarborough could you help me identify it , It was a young bird loely to look at , had a speckled breast , small beak , and bits of yellow on tail . gs
Sorry Gill, this time of the year there are many young birds that don’t look like their parents.. difficult to say what it is…Cheers, George
Reading this is interesting,I live in Yorkshire and since the middle of February my garden has Benin abundant with siskins ,yesterday mixed with greenfinch and goldfinch,1bullfinch ,chaffinches, brambling and 13siskins, they are loving the nijer and sunflower seeds ,unfortunately though the jackdaws scare them off throughout the day .
Thx for sharing sounds lovely G
I also have a bird I can’t identify, im new to bird watching it appears to look like a yellow browned warbler , close to a Siskin with a definition yellow line above eye with a dark line through has a stripe on head too .
My dad tells me I wouldn’t have a warbler in garden, sadly I’ve been unable to get a picture of it . It seems to fly from my large fir tree and shelters in overgrown bushes mixture of trees at the back of my garden .
Any suggestions to what it may be ?
Try rspb site Justine. Cheers G
This year I have had Goldcrests, blackcaps and garden warblers. first time I’ve ever seen Garden warblers, in my garden I’m in Liverpool so not many of those around, not had any siskins this year but had one or two last year. get a tawny owl sitting hooting every night 🙂
Wow, that’s nice Steve. Pity about the result yesterday!!
Hello I am a newcomer to the sight and I have just become very interested in the birds that visit my garden feeders. I live near to woodlands and this year I had my first Siskin, then more siskins started to come and eventually I had upto 23 siskins feeding in my garden on sunflower hearts. I really hope that they return this winter. Other birds that visit are Blue tits Great tits Coal tits long tailed tits Nuthatch Robin fieldfare song thrush Goldfinch Great spotted woodpecker Redpole Gray wagtail Black cap Wren and others. I have about 10 feeders and at times with the siskins I was re filling them daily. My biggest problem though is keeping the dreaded Squirrels away.
Hi TONY, GREAT BIRD LIST. Thanks for sharing. Can recommend poles for feeders with anti squirrel baffles. Cheers george
Siskins have taken over the sunflower feeders in our garden, they are chasing away all the tits ,robins and other birds. There are easily 20 to 30 of them in a flock . How can I discourage them?
OMG! How lucky are you NW? I would be made up and many others would to have such a lovely bird in such high numbers. They will not be around for that long so enjoy them whilst you can. Cheers George
I am guessing the siskins are a migratory bird for some… we had a bumper amount in the garden this year… about 15 males and a few females… they have now all gone and the gold finches have returned – for you experts out there, how come some stay and some go? If the food is good, is it our warmer summers that moves them on? If so, how come some areas continue to have Siskins all year round? Thanks in advance!!
Chris search for that information via the RSPB or the BTO websites. Cheers, George