Pine Siskins are plentiful

While there are no new birds at the feeder lately there are more pine siskins than I have even seen before. They even outnumber house sparrows! I think that some of them may be young as they seem not to be too frightened when I approach. One little fellow boldly pecked at the sunflower seeds when I was only standing a few feet away.
We still have a few chipping sparrows, and there are more chickadees now. The starlings are visiting much less frequently. Of course I am still feeding the crows.
I have cut down on the frequency of refilling the feeder. It is just too expensive to spoil the birds by always making sure the feeder is full! House sparrows especially are wasteful in dumping all the seeds they can onto the ground!