noun

• A small songbird related to the goldfinch, with yellow and black in the plumage.

  Genus Carduelis (and Serinus), family Fringillidae: the North Eurasian C. spinus, with dark-streaked greenish-yellow plumage, and several species in the New World

  ‘Seedeaters such as evening grosbeaks, goldfinches, and pine siskins prefer black oil sunflower and niger thistle.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Niger thistle appeals especially to pine siskins, goldfinches, and purple and house finches.’
  • ‘After a four-winter absence delightful siskins returned to our garden in 1994.’
  • ‘Flocks of mixed finches including siskins bounced along the hedges and down to the wooded beck.’
  • ‘The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported an outbreak of salmonellosis in pine siskins in the Juneau area last month.’
  • ‘On my way back to the tent I had a male siskin fly down to a puddle just in front of me.’