A pine siskin visiting from Canada argues with a house finch (red rump) at the thistle feeder. Tom Moeller captured them in the midst of their dispute.
“Hey! This is mine!”
In the photo you can see a subtle difference between the local bird and the pushy visitor: The pine siskin’s beak is thin and pointy compared to the house finch’s stout beak.
Pine siskins specialize in small seeds in their northern home.
Each bird has a tool (beak) best suited for his diet.
(photo by Tom Moeller)
Thank you for the great photo, Kate. You can almost hear them arguing, cant you? At my feeder, the finches don’t like intruders, either, and give them a very cold shoulder…..