Our feisty pine siskin, a member of the finch family, is closely related to the redpolls I’ve described, and the native goldfinches we see at the feeder in winter plumage.
The aggressive siskin is an irruptive species that can be common in some winters throughout most of North America, and even into Mexico. Even though these birds occur across the United States, many have never seen this bird, or having seen it, did not realize it as a distinct species.
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