Pine Siskin
(Spinus pinus)

Overview

Summary

© Dan Busby
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The Pine Siskin is a nomadic, irruptive species that breeds and winters across Canada's forests. Results from both the Breeding Bird Survey, which provides good coverage in the southern portion of the range, and the Christmas Bird Count, which monitors the winter population, illustrate the large population fluctuations experienced by this species. Considering both data sources, the Pine Siskin is thought to have shown little overall change since the early 1970s, though the reliability of this assessment is considered low and it is unclear if this result reflects the entire Canadian population. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)
• Canadian Atlas of Bird Banding Maps, (west)
• Canadian Atlas of Bird Banding Maps, (Ontario)
• Canadian Atlas of Bird Banding Maps, (east)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

As a nomadic and opportunistic species that follows the abundance of important food seed species, population densities can vary greatly from year to year and region to region (Dawson 1997). Although there are currently no urgent conservation concerns for this species, cutting of coniferous and mixed forests can have detrimental effects (Dawson 1997).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Dawson, W.R. 1997. Pine Siskin (Carduelis pinus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Dawson, W.R. 1997. Pine Siskin (Carduelis pinus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)