Siskin (Eurasian Siskin)
Carduelis spinus
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Distribution Britain 1,158 (+85.3%) Ireland 284 (+19.8%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 300,000 Ireland 60,000 European status: 2,750,000 (13% in Britain and Ireland =3) British population trend: long-term increases (+12% BBS) How likely are you to record it? 272 squares (6.1%) Ranked 76 [67] |
A mere two hundred years ago the Siskin was a bird only found in the Caledonian pine forest since it relies on mature cones for food. By the end of the 19th century it had spread a little to the maturing conifer plantations of other areas — North Wales, southern Scotland and possibly Cumbria. In
Ireland it was apparently well distributed following an invasion in the 1850s. Breeding records in Surrey are thought to have been from escaped cage birds. Many conifers were planted in the early part of the 20th century and as they matured, in the 1930s, breeding birds spread to new areas and, by the 1950s, they were breeding as far south and east as Devon, Hampshire, Kent and Suffolk. They had consolidated their breeding numbers and expanded their range in Ireland too. However even by the first Breeding Atlas nesting can only be described as sparse away from parts of Scotland and favoured areas in Ireland. The second Breeding Atlas showed tremendous expansion and real filling in of the range with an expansion of two thirds, overall, in the number of occupied 10-km squares. This bird is very fickle over its breeding areas and will leave places where it generally breeds if the cone crop fails — but pile in if good. Bound to fluctuate but all in all on the up and up!
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead