BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Spinus pinus
Pine Siskin
| Scientific Name: | Spinus pinus (Wilson, 1810) | ||||||||||
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| Scientific Name Synonyms: |
Carduelis pinus
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| English Name: | Pine Siskin | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Taxonomy Comments: | March 2, 2010 - changed from Carduelis pinus to Spinus pinus as per 2009 AOU update (DW). | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-PISI | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5B (Mar 2015) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | Y | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Clutch size is 3-4, sometimes 5. Incubation, by female, lasts 13 days (Terres 1980). Both parents tend young, which leave nest 15 days after hatching. Sometimes individual females produce 2 broods/year. Pine siskins frequently nest in loose colonies. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Pine siskins are gregarious in fall and winter and often travel in flocks of typically 50-200. Occasionally a few siskins travel in flocks with goldfinches and redpolls during winter (Terres 1980). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / Y / Y / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Pine siskins may wander irregularly during winter. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Agriculture / Cultivated Field / Facultative - occasional use
Agriculture / Hedgerow / Facultative - occasional use Agriculture / Pasture/Old Field / Facultative - occasional use Anthropogenic / Industrial / Facultative - frequent use Anthropogenic / Urban/Suburban / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Conifer Forest - Dry / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Conifer Forest - Mesic (average) / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Conifer Forest - Moist/wet / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Mixed Forest (deciduous/coniferous mix) / Facultative - frequent use Grassland/Shrub / Meadow / Facultative - occasional use Grassland/Shrub / Shrub - Logged / Facultative - occasional use Grassland/Shrub / Shrub - Natural / Facultative - occasional use Riparian / Riparian Forest / Facultative - frequent use |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Habitats include various forests and woodlands, parks, and gardens and yards in suburban areas. In migration and winter, this species occurs in a variety of woodland and forest habitats, partly open situations with scattered trees, open fields, pastures, and savanna (AOU 1983). It has been positively affected by forest fragmentation in southern Wyoming (Keller and Anderson 1992). Nests often are placed about half way up a conifer or deciduous tree and are hidden among outer branches. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Granivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | This species forages in trees and on the ground for seeds (e.g., of alder, birches, pines, maples, thistles) and insects. It also eats flower buds of elms, and drinks nectar from eucalyptus blossoms and sap from sapsucker holes (Terres 1980). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 13/ / 15 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Nesting range extends from central and south-coastal Alaska east across Canada to Labrador, and south to northern Baja California, southern Mexico and Guatemala, western Texas, Great Lakes region, and northern New England, and sporatically southward to the central Great Plains region and southern Appalachian Mountains region (Dawson 1997, AOU 1998). Winter range extends from the breeding range (except far northern noncoastal part) south to southern Mexico and Guatemala, Gulf coast of the United States, and northern Florida (Dawson 1997, AOU 1998). |
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| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Mar 16, 2009 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I.McT.-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G. Kaiser, A.C. Stewart, and M.C.E. McNall. 2001. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 4, Passerines: Wood-Warblers through Old World Sparrows. UBC Press, in cooperation with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv., and B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch and Resour. Inventory Branch, and Royal B.C. Mus. 744pp. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2009. Species Summary: Spinus pinus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 25, 2026).