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Breeding Range. (Fig. 159). Small numbers apparently breed locally and irregularly throughout the state. Definite breeding records are listed in chronological order as follows:

1925--Six nests with eggs or young recorded at Bismarck (Reid 1929).
1927--Nest at Bismarck (North Dakota State University Museum catalog).
1942--Nest at Minot (P. M. Stine).
1943--Nest at Minot (P. M. Stine).
1952--Two nests and flying young at Bismarck (R. N. Randall).
1963--Nest at Mott, Hettinger County (W. A. Buresh).
1972--Nest at Dickinson (E. A. Swenson).
1972--Nest in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Billings County (E. A. Swenson).
1972--Nest at Fargo (North Dakota State University Museum catalog).
1972--Nest at Grand Forks (R. L. Rytter).
1973--Unusually large numbers were recorded throughout eastern Cass County and northern Richland County during the spring of 1973, and nest-building was observed at Fargo (RES).
1973--Nest at Valley City (Ray Phillips). Other records of adults during the breeding season have been reported from scattered localities throughout the state.

Breeding Habitat. Groves of coniferous trees, chiefly spruce; and occasionally, stands of deciduous trees.

Nesting. Breeding season: Early April to mid-June. Extreme dates of active nests (12 nests): April 7 [1925] in Burleigh County (Reid 1929) to June [1963] in Hettinger County (W. A. Buresh). On May 17 [1973], two young were flushed from a nest at Valley City (Ray Phillips). Flying young were observed on May 20 [1952] in Burleigh County (R. N. Randall).

Nests ordinarily are situated in spruce trees although one nest at Fargo was placed in a northern white cedar about 8 feet above the ground (RES) and one nest in Bismarck was situated in a small, nearly dead box elder (Reid 1929). At Mott, a nest was situated in a discarded Christmas tree in the back yard of a residence (W. A. Buresh).

Indicated clutch size (6 nests): 3 or 4 eggs (Reid 1929).

Figure 159. Breeding Range of Pine Siskin.