Life on the Outer Coast

Siskins seem to be more abundant around town and at my feeder this last week or so. At least I've seen many more of them around the island. This last week there were siskins along the trail every day regardless of the weather. Today when I walked around the lake, it seemed like there was a siskin or two every few yards. No, I don't think I was herding the same two around the trail.

The siskins are not what I would call wary either on the trail or at the feeder. I haven't had them eat out of my hand yet, but they let me get pretty close. I can have my hand on the rail while they feed about a foot away on the same rail. The nuthatches and chickadees at the feeder are also pretty comfortable with me, but the juncos are not. They are okay with me on the deck, but not too close.

Although the siskins aren't too worried about me, they do seem to be pretty aggressive toward their fellow birds. The tussles were less frequent when there were 6 siskins at the feeder, but when the number got up to 12 in the late afternoon, the aggression increased. They flew at each other in kind of a face to face aerial combat or crouching with wings slightly spread, with bills open. Birds knocked other birds off the perches, the deck and the suet feeder.

The nuthatches still visited the feeder or rail, but flewn in, grabbed a seed and flew off. The chickadees pretty much adopted the same strategy, but seemed a bit more persistant at trying to get at the feeder. When there was only one siskin at the feeder, a chickadee was tolerated at the adjacent suet feeder, but not at the same feeder. The juncos seemed a bit more able and willing to hold their own .