Mike,
At our place in Roy, we regularly have Pine Siskins feeding on the ground, particularly under the black oilseed feeders. In addition, where I put seed on the ground for sparrows, etc., the "opportunistic" feeders, such as chickadees and siskins, also drop in to feed there.

May all your birds be identified,
Denis

Avian Acres 🦉
Roy, WA
________________________________
From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> on behalf of Scuderi, Michael R CIV USARMY CENWS (USA) <Michael.R.Scuderi at usace.army.mil>
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2020 2:30:48 PM
To: Steve Loitz <steveloitz at gmail.com>
Cc: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] [Non-DoD Source] Re: Pine Siskins in Carnation

I had raked my lawn the day before, so maybe that stirred up food sources.

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Loitz <steveloitz at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2020 12:55 PM
To: Scuderi, Michael R CIV USARMY CENWS (USA) <Michael.R.Scuderi at usace.army.mil>
Cc: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Non-DoD Source] Re: [Tweeters] Pine Siskins in Carnation

Mike, we have seen Pine Siskins ground feeding in the mountains, usually in the subalpine zone (they seem to like Subalpine Firs) and occasionally in the montane (forest meadow edges). They are opportunistic feeders. We have observed Siskins gleaning invertebrates.

Steve Loitz
Ellensburg, WA



On Tue, Nov 17, 2020 at 12:36 PM Scuderi, Michael R CIV USARMY CENWS (USA) <Michael.R.Scuderi at usace.army.mil <mailto:Michael.R.Scuderi at usace.army.mil> > wrote:


Yesterday I had a large flock of about 80 siskin in my backyard (West Hill Kent). What was interesting was that the majority were feeding on the ground in the grass. I don't have a feeder so there were no seeds on the ground. Birds of the World is down right now, but in looking at my references books, I did not see references to ground feeding. Has anyone else observed siskin ground feeding behavior?

Mike Scuderi
Kent, WA




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