Got nectar? No, just bugs

In this photo, which I took April 4, you see a small songbird that is native to North America. It is similar in appearance to the American goldfinch and the house finch. It also closely resembles the yellow-rumped warbler in size and coloration.

This bird is a pine siskin. The pine siskin can be seen in Southeast Missouri from late fall through winter until springtime when it migrates back to its summer home in Canada and Alaska. During winter it may go as far south as southern Mexico.

The pine siskin eats small seeds and tiny insects. Although the one in this photo appears to be seeking nectar from a nonnative exotic quince bush blossom, in reality it was retrieving an insect, which it promptly dropped.

You may be able to attract pine siskins to your winter bird feeder next winter by including thistle seed and crushed sunflower seed.