Identifying this bird please

lilyput · #1 (**permalink**) 05-11-2010, 03:07 PM

Hello im new here and i hope to uplaod maybe 2 pics of this sweet little bird i had in my garden last year, unfortunately i havent had them at all this year and im wondering if anyone here knows what bird it is. Ive tried to identify it myself with the RSPB website but no luck so i thought id ask you all if you could help me out......well here goes and thanks a lot

I think ive done this right......as you can see he was a friendly little fellow and he was eating niger seeds, so i think he could be in the finch class of birds
Thanks for helping me and im looking forward to your replys on this one
lilyput

Brocakat · #2 (**permalink**) 05-11-2010, 03:21 PM

Looks like a an immature Greenfinch to me.

earthdragon64 · #3 (**permalink**) 05-11-2010, 03:32 PM

It looks like a young Siskin to me.

Welcome to WAB by the way.

Regards, Audrey.

lilyput · #4 (**permalink**) 05-11-2010, 03:35 PM

Hiya
I thought Sikin but i found a picture af an adult and of course it was totally different, and then the bird did have slight green running through its baby feathers.......why have they not show up once this year? I had so many of them the year before i couldnt feed them quick enough!
Thanks for feedback

lilyput · #5 (**permalink**) 05-11-2010, 03:38 PM

ps......i was totally taken back when it let me get so close for the pics, then i just very slowly raised my hand to it and it jumped onto my finger.....! wow, that will never happen again, i still had my mobile in my hand and managed to get the shutter open and set it to take that picture.....its a one off i think
lilyput

bigdave60dog · #6 (**permalink**) 05-11-2010, 03:50 PM

My first thought before reading your description was "Mule" a deliberate cross between a canary and Greenfinch.
I have never kept cagebirds but as a poultry breeder I met people who did. I have seen "Mules" that look just like this. It would fit in with it`s tameness as well.
Dave

RoyW · #7 (**permalink**) 05-11-2010, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by earthdragon64

It looks like a young Siskin to me.

Welcome to WAB by the way.

Agreed!

This is a typical juvenile Siskin.
As for why it was so tame, there could be a variety of reasons. It may have be ill, or exhausted/under fed, it could have been an escaped cage bird so was used to being handled (Siskins are sometimes kept in captivity), or it may have just not learnt to be afraid of humans - perhaps even a combination of these.

lilyput · #8 (**permalink**) 06-11-2010, 10:30 AM

Hita all
Thank you so much for all your help..........all thanks for the welcome.
Well my first reaction was it was "tame" the reason was because it didnt look unwell and it was feeding away on the seeds.........im alarmed to read that people keep them in captivity! That would answer the questions as to why it wasny afraid of me............and as i said i had visits from dozens of them that year, do you think they were bread for release? Sadly i havent had any this year so that would fit in. Thankyou for identyfying the bird for me its great been a while of dead ends and now i know that its almost certainly a siskin.
Because i moved up from south wales to Cumbria im finding all sorts of different birds, ive for the first time ever been visited by fieldfairs (not sure of that spelling) but the climate is so different that we get migration and winter birds at totally different times than im used to.......my sister still has fushia flowers in her garden, my garden looks like the dead of winter without any leaves left!
Thank you again all
lilyput