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GENERAL FORECAST: Cone crops in the
Northeast are bumper in 2017. It is the best cone crop in a decade
or more. This will be a banner winter to see boreal finches in
central and northeastern Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada, northern
New York, and northern New England States. White-winged and Red
Crossbills and Pine Siskins have moved east to areas of abundant
seed crops. The Big Question is: will finches concentrate in areas of
highest cone abundance (more likely) or be spread out across the
Northeast? This is not an irruption year south of traditional
wintering areas in the Northeast. Cone crops are generally low west
of a line from Lake Superior to James Bay extending west across the
Prairie Provinces, British Columbia and Alaska. See individual finch
forecasts below for further details.
PINE GROSBEAK:
Most should stay in the north because the mountain-ash berry
crop is good to excellent across the boreal forest from Alaska to
Newfoundland. Some should get south to Algonquin Park. At feeders
they prefer black oil sunflower seeds.
PURPLE FINCH: Most Purple Finches
east of Lake Superior should stay north this winter because of heavy
seed crops on eastern conifers and mountain-ashes. They prefer black
oil sunflower seeds at feeders.
RED CROSSBILL: There will be a good
showing of Red Crossbills in Ontario and the Northeast this winter.
Red Crossbills comprise about 10 "call types" in North America. Matt
Young of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology reports that Eastern Type 10
is currently the most common type from the Great Lakes through
Ontario into the Maritime Provinces and Northeastern United States.
This year Matt also reports that Type 2, Type 3 and Type 4 and a few
Type 5s from the west are moving east, the latter is a vagrant east
of the Rockies. This movement started in late June/early July,
presumably linked to poor or failed crops on several conifers in the
western U.S. and Canada. Most types are impossible to identify
without analyzing recordings of their flight calls. Recordings can
be made with an iPhone and identified to call type
by audio spectrographic analysis. Matt Young (may6 at
cornell.edu) will identify types for you if you email him your
recordings or upload
them to an eBird checklist. This helps his
research. He is particularly interested in recordings from Maine,
Vermont, Michigan, Ontario and the Maritime Provinces. Red
Crossbills probably will be breeding this winter into next spring.
Expect to hear them singing and to see streaked juveniles.
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL: This
crossbill flooded into the Northeast over the summer, drawn here by
the bumper cone crops. Winter trips to hotspots such as Algonquin
Park, Laurentians and Adirondacks are guaranteed to see this
crossbill. They probably will be breeding this fall and winter.
Watch and listen for their loud trilling songs given from tree tops
and during circular slow-flapping display flights. Expect to see
streaked juveniles in the flocks.
COMMON REDPOLL: Redpolls should
move south because White Birch and alder seed crops are below
average in northern Ontario. However, as redpolls move south they
likely will be slowed or stopped by abundant conifer seed crops and
better birch crops. If they get into southern Ontario south of
latitude 45, good seed crops on birches and
European Black Alder, and an abundance of weedy fields this year
will attract them. When redpolls discover your nyger seed feeders,
feeding frenzies result. Feeders are best
for studying fidgety redpolls. Watch for the larger and darker
“Greater” Common Redpoll (subspecies
rostrata) from Baffin Island (Nunavut) and Greenland.
HOARY REDPOLL:
Watch for Hoaries in flocks of Common Redpolls. The “Southern” Hoary
Redpoll (nominate subspecies exilipes) breeds south to
northern Ontario and is the subspecies usually seen in southern
Canada and northern USA. Watch for “Hornemann’s” Hoary Redpoll
(nominate hornemanni) from northern Nunavut and Greenland. It
is the largest and palest of the redpolls. Hornemann’s was formerly
considered a great rarity south of the tundra, but recently it has
been documented in the south more frequently with better photos. See
link #2 for photos and identification of Common and Hoary Redpoll,
and their subspecies.
PINE SISKIN: Siskins will be
frequent and locally common this winter in the Northeast drawn here
by abundant cone crops, particularly on White Spruce. Feisty siskins
prefer nyger seeds in silo feeders. See link #3 which discusses
siskin irruptions related to climate variability.
EVENING GROSBEAK: Most should
stay in the north this winter because of abundant conifer seed crops
and increasing outbreaks of spruce budworm.
The most reliable spot to
see this spectacular grosbeak is the feeders at the Visitor Centre
in Algonquin Park. In 2016 the Committee
on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assigned
the “Evening Grosbeak as a species of Special Concern due to strong
population declines occurring mainly in central and eastern Canada.”
THREE IRRUPTIVE PASSERINES:
Movements of these three passerines are often linked to movements of
boreal finches.
BLUE JAY: Expect a much smaller
than usual flight of jays from mid-September to mid-October along
the north shorelines of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The acorn,
beechnut, hazelnut and berry crops are generally good in Ontario.
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH: This
nuthatch is now in areas with high cone abundance. Its presence
indicates that White-winged and Red Crossbills, Pine Siskins and
Purple Finches will be in the same areas.
BOHEMIAN WAXWING: Only a small
flight south is expected because native Mountain-ashes have good to
excellent berry crops across the boreal forest from Alaska to
Newfoundland. In recent times Bohemians have been coming south more
frequently probably due to now reliable annual crops of introduced
Buckthorn berries. When they come south, Bohemians relish European
Mountain‐ash berries and small ornamental crabapples. It was
historically called “Bohemian Chatterer” because flocks make a
continuous “buzzy ringing twittering”.
WHERE TO SEE FINCHES: Ontario’s
Algonquin Provincial Park is an exciting winter experience. It is
about a 3.5 hour drive north of Toronto and west of Ottawa. Cone
crops are excellent in the park so both crossbills, siskins and
probably Purple Finches should be common. The bird feeders at the
Visitor Centre (km 43) should attract a few Common Redpolls (watch
for Hoaries), Evening and Pine Grosbeaks. The Visitor Centre and
restaurant are open weekends in winter. On weekdays, it is open, but
with limited services (no restaurant, but snacks and drinks are
available). To view feeders on weekdays phone 613-637-2828. The
bookstore has a fine selection of natural history books. Be sure to
get Birds of Algonquin Park (2012) by former park naturalist
Ron Tozer. It is one of the finest regional bird books. The nearby
Spruce Bog Trail at km 42.5 and Opeongo Road at km 44.5 are the best
spots for finches and boreal species such as Canada Jay, Boreal
Chickadee, Spruce Grouse and Black-backed Woodpecker. Similarly, the
Laurentian Mountains in Quebec and Adirondack Mountains in New York
State will be great places to see finches and boreal birds this
winter.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Our fascination
with nomadic Winter Finches is a long-standing love affair. Here is
an edited note titled WINTER VISITORS by
A.M. Ross (1873)
in The Canadian Ornithologist Vol 1, No 1,
Toronto, Ontario. Current names are in brackets. "The past winter
was remarkable in the unusual variety of rare northern birds which
visited this section of Canada. During the month of January 1873,
which was remarkable for the extreme cold and stormy weather, we
observed small flocks of Red Crossbills, White-winged Crossbills,
Bohemian Chatterers (Bohemian Waxwing), Pine Grosbeaks, Pine Finches
(Pine Siskin), Lapland Longspur. Our regular winter visitors also
appeared in greater numbers than usual with large flocks of Snow
Buntings, Lesser Redpolls (Common Redpoll), Snowbirds (Dark-eyed
Junco) and Shore Larks (Horned Lark). The appearance of so many rare
northern birds in this section was doubtless owing to the extreme
cold weather in northern Canada during last winter." This last
sentence is a persisting myth still often repeated to explain the
southern occurrences of northern birds in winter. I am grateful to
Glenn Coady for bringing this historical reference by Ross (1873) to
my attention. |
