![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pine-siskin-1444-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"pine-siskin-1444-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nPreparing wild thistle seeds for consumption is more complicated and delicate than one might think.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Two days ago in the mountains this Pine Siskin gave me an intimate look at the delicate work involved in preparing thistle seeds for swallowing. I chose to include this photo because it shows thistle flowers (Musk Thistle?) in three different stages of development and the siskin is standing on the flower that was mature enough to provide the ripe seeds ‘he’ was extracting from the flower head, preparing for consumption and then swallowing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pine-siskin-1459-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"pine-siskin-1459-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n
When he first extracted the seeds they were still attached to their thistle down (pappus) whose function is to disperse the seed via wind. Neither the thistle down nor the hull of the seed provides any significant food value so all he’s after is the nutritious seed kernel inside the hull. That means that two things must be accomplished before he can swallow the kernel:<\/p>\n
I thought this photo was perfect for documenting the processes involved in a single photo. Here he’s broken off the thistle down from one seed and the tip of that seed’s interior kernel can be seen inside the hull. He’ll discard both the thistle down and the hull before swallowing the kernel. The second seed in front of the first one has already had both processes accomplished so he’s about ready to swallow that kernel (at least I believe it’s a kernel but it’s possible it’s a piece of a hull.).<\/p>\n
Think about it. The only tools he has available to him for this delicate seed manipulation are his tongue and rigid beak – no hands allowed and he doesn’t use his feet. And he’s working on two seeds at the same time with each one being in different stages of the process.<\/p>\n
I don’t know about you but I’m impressed.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Note: The scientific name of the Pine Siskin is Spinus pinus<\/em>. You can’t tell me that at least some scientists and\/or early naturalists don’t have a sense of humor, slightly warped though it may be. Lyle Anderson, I’m thinking you’ll enjoy that one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Preparing wild thistle seeds for consumption is more complicated and delicate than one might think.<\/p>\n