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GENERAL FORECAST: This winter's
theme is a "mixed bag" of finch movements. For example, some species
such as Purple Finch will go south while White-winged Crossbills
will likely stay in the boreal forest in widely separated areas
where spruces are laden with cones. Common Redpolls should move into
southern Canada and the northern states because birch seed crops are
thin to average across the north. See individual finch forecasts
below for details.
TREE SEED CROPS: Key trees
affecting finch movements in the boreal forest are spruces, birches
and mountain-ashes. Spruce cone crops are variable in Ontario. Crops
are excellent around southern James Bay and very good to excellent
west of Lake Superior. Crops are mostly poor elsewhere in the
province such as Algonquin Park in central Ontario. The heavy spruce
cone crop around James Bay extends east in a broad deep band across
north-central Quebec into the Gaspe Peninsula. East of Ontario cone
crops are generally poor in the Atlantic Provinces, New York State,
New Hampshire and other northern New England States. West of Ontario
cone crops are poor in the boreal forest in Manitoba and
Saskatchewan but improve westward with average crops in southern
Yukon and excellent crops in Alaska. Birch seed crops are poor to
average in the boreal forest. Mountain-ash berry crops are very good
to bumper across the boreal forest, but crops are low in
northeastern Ontario and poor in Newfoundland.
INDIVIDUAL FINCH FORECASTS:
Forecasts apply mainly to Ontario and adjacent provinces and states.
Three irruptive non-finch passerines whose movements are linked to
finches are also discussed. There will be local exceptions to
individual forecasts. You can follow the movements of winter finches
this fall and winter on eBird.
PINE GROSBEAK: Pine Grosbeaks
should make a small flight into central Ontario because mountain-ash
berry crops are low in northeastern Ontario. However, mountain-ash
crops are excellent in north-central Quebec and in northwestern
Ontario with excellent crops extending west across the boreal forest
to Alaska so grosbeaks there may not move far from these areas. At
feeders they prefer sunflower seeds, and also watch for them feeding
on European mountain-ash berries and ornamental crabapples.
PURPLE FINCH: Last winter many
Purple Finches stayed in the boreal forest because of bumper seed
crops there. This fall most Purple Finches should migrate south of
Ontario because many coniferous and deciduous tree seed crops are
much lower in central and northeastern Ontario. When Purple Finches
leave Ontario in October and November, they return in mid-April to
mid-May to breed. At feeders Purples prefer sunflower seeds.
Old-timers remember when Purple Finches were much commoner than they
are today. The principal cause of the decline may be the absence of
large outbreaks of spruce budworm.
RED CROSSBILL: Red Crossbills
will be scattered in the Northeast this winter because cone crops
are generally poor. Expect some in Ontario where red and/or white
pines have locally good cone crops. A few Red Crossbills were
reported this past summer north of Lake Huron. Red Crossbills
comprise at least 10 "call types" in North America. However, the
types are usually impossible to identify without recordings of their
flight calls. Matt Young (may6 at cornell.edu) at The Cornell Lab of
Ornithology will identify types if you send him your recordings and
this will help with his ongoing research. Matt reports that Type 10s
have been moving around the Great Lakes and Northeast for a few
months and Pascal Cote of the Tadoussac Bird Observatory in Quebec
reports a small movement of Type 3s.
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL: This
crossbill will be mostly absent this winter from central Ontario
such as in Algonquin Park because spruce and hemlock cone crops are
very poor there. White-winged Crossbills move east and west like a
pendulum across North America searching for bumper cone crops. In
the Northeast they should winter in numbers around James Bay and
east across north/central Quebec into the Gaspe Peninsula where
spruce crops are heavy. Pascal Cote reports that White-winged
Crossbills are currently abundant in boreal areas of Quebec such as
Charlevoix and Chibougamau. They are unlikely to irrupt south in
numbers because the excellent spruce cone crops in Quebec,
northwestern Canada and Alaska should keep this crossbill within the
boreal forest.
COMMON REDPOLL: Expect a
moderate to good flight south this fall and winter because birch
seed crops are variably poor to average in the boreal forest. At
bird feeders redpolls prefer nyger seeds in silo feeders.
Watch for "Greater" Common Redpolls (subspecies rostrata)
from Baffin Island and Greenland in flocks of "Southern" Common
Redpolls (nominate subspecies flammea). Greaters are larger,
browner, longer tailed, and bigger billed in direct comparison with
"Southerns". For photos of "Greater" Common Redpolls see links #5
and 6 below. Watch for redpolls in weedy fields.
HOARY REDPOLL:
Watch for
Hoaries this winter mixed in with flocks of Common Redpolls. The
"Southern" Hoary Redpoll (nominate subspecies exilipes) which
breeds south to northern Ontario is the usual subspecies
encountered. It is rare but regular in redpoll flocks. "Hornemann's"
Hoary Redpoll (subspecies hornemanni) was once considered a
great rarity south of the tundra, but it has been documented with
photos in recent years with four records accepted to date by the
Ontario Bird Records Committee. For photos of Hornemann's see link
#6 below.
PINE SISKIN: Siskins were observed
in numbers this summer around southern James Bay and in southern
Yukon. They will move east and west this fall searching for areas
with excellent spruce cone crops. Siskins should winter in Alaska
and north-central Quebec where spruce crops are excellent. However,
those that fail to find adequate cone crops will probably wander
south where they will frequent bird feeders with nyger seeds in silo
feeders. Siskins are often detected by their wheezy clee-ip
call, which is the best way to identify them in flight.
EVENING GROSBEAK: Very small
numbers of Evening Grosbeaks should move south this winter into
southern Ontario and the Northeast because tree seed crops are
generally poor farther north. This past summer, Tyler Hoar reports
the lowest number of Evening Grosbeaks that he has seen around Lake
Superior and in Quebec's Laurentians in four years. Breeding
populations are now much reduced from the population peak during the
1940s to 1980s linked to large outbreaks of spruce budworm. The
feeders at the Visitor Centre in Algonquin Park should have some
grosbeaks this winter. At feeders Evening Grosbeaks prefer black oil
sunflower seeds.
THREE IRRUPTIVE PASSERINES:
Movements of the following three passerines are often linked to the
boreal finches.
BLUE JAY: Expect a good to heavy
flight (many more than last year) moving westward along the north
shorelines of Lakes Ontario and Erie because the acorn, beechnut,
hazelnut and soft mast crops averaged low in northeastern, central
and eastern Ontario. However, acorn crops were much higher in the
Carolinian Zone south of Toronto. Expect fewer Blue Jays at feeders
in Ontario this winter because many jays will migrate out of the
province this fall.
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH: This
nuthatch is a conifer seed specialist when it winters in the boreal
forest. Cone crop failures cause irruptions. It began wandering
southward in mid-summer indicating that boreal finches would also
move this fall and winter. Many but not all Red-breasted Nuthatches
should move south this fall because white spruce cone crops are
generally low to average (some bumper crops) across much of the
boreal forest. At bird feeders Red-breasted Nuthatches prefer black
oil sunflower seeds, chopped peanuts and suet.
BOHEMIAN WAXWING: Most Bohemians
should stay in the north this winter because the mountain-ash berry
crop is generally very good to excellent across most of the boreal
forest except in northeastern Ontario. When Bohemians move south
they are attracted to berries on European Mountain-ash, small
ornamental crabapples and buckthorn berries. With the recent
breeding range expansion east across northern Quebec and the annual
abundance of buckthorn berries in settled areas, Bohemians now occur
every winter in varying numbers in southern Ontario, southern Quebec
and New York State.
WHERE TO SEE FINCHES: Algonquin
Park is an exciting winter experience about a 3.5 hour drive north of
Toronto. Cone crops are poor in the park this year so finch numbers
will be very low. However, feeders at the Visitor Centre (km 43)
should attract Common Redpolls (watch for Hoaries), Evening and Pine
Grosbeaks. The Visitor Centre and restaurant are open weekends in
winter. On weekdays arrangements can be made to view feeders by
calling 613-637-2828. The bookstore has one of the best selections
of natural history books anywhere. Be sure to get the Birds of
Algonquin Park (2012) by retired park naturalist Ron Tozer. It is
one of the finest regional bird books ever published. The nearby
Spruce Bog Trail at km 42.5 and Opeongo Road at km 44.5 are the best
spots for finches and other species such as Gray Jay, Boreal
Chickadee, Spruce Grouse and Black-backed Woodpecker.
NOTE: Previous finch forecasts and
much additional information with photos are in the following links: |
