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I.D. Question



Happy Christmas All,

I was hiking in the mountains yesterday and while on top of Looking Glass
Mountain saw a flock of ~45 finch size yellow-green birds.  (Looking Glass
is in the Pisgah National Forest just east of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The
elevation was about 3500 feet.)  The birds were definitely not goldfinches
either by appearance or by calls.  The calls were much quieter single notes
more wispy sounding than a goldfinch.  The flight of the birds was a little
less undulating than goldfinches and the flock stayed tightly bunched.
Unfortunately I wasn't carrying a binocular so I don't have much detail.
The wings were slightly darker than the rest of the plumage but did not
approach being black.  The birds were foraging in pine trees on the
mountainside.

I'm thinking Pine Siskins but I've never seen a flock this big and really
don't have much experience with them other than at feeders.  Any thoughts?



Paul Shewmaker
Simpsonville, SC
(Upstate SC)