Jan 14

Where are the Winter Finches?

By Brian Cunningham Birds, Common Redpolls, Events, Pine Siskin, Purple Finch, Uncategorized, Winter Finch Irruption Leave a Comment »
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So where are the irruptive winter finches showing up? Check out the current www.eBird.org map sightings. Maybe they’re in your neighborhood.

Click here to find where Pine Siskin are being seen. Also, check out the More Than We Thought post where you can learn some identification clues for quickly telling if there are Pine Siskin on your feeder.

Click here to see Common Redpolls’ strong movement into the Northeast, Great Lakes, Seattle areas and other isolated pockets.

Click here to see Purple Finch throughout the East, West coast states and other areas. Be careful with your ID. Purple, House and Cassin’s Finches can be challenging to tell apart. Check out this great tricky finch identification resource from Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch.

Jan 12

Bark Butter Entices Irruption?

By Brian Cunningham Birds, Common Redpolls, Events, Pine Siskin, Purple Finch, Winter Finch Irruption 5 Comments »
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Photo courtesy Nancy Castillo, co-owner of Wild Birds Unlimited Saratoga Springs, NY

Every year, the birding community looks forward to the Winter Finch Forecast. It is a scientific prediction / educated guess of the irruption (mass movement of birds looking for food) out of the Northern Boreal Forests. This year it looked liked Pine Siskin would not irrupt south.

Well, word must have spread to the Northern Boreal Forests about Jim’s Birdacious Bark Butter! We are getting reports of Pine Siskin and other irruptive winter finches visiting backyard feeders and enjoying this unique, tasty energy-treat.

I have been officially tracking the number of species attracted to Bark Butter since its public debut in 2008. I am excited that Pine Siskin are the newest addition as the 107th bird species added to the Bark Butter Bird List.

What’s even more exciting is that we have added three winter finches to the list this year: Common Redpoll, Purple Finch and Pine Siskin.

Bark Butter may not really be the reason Pine Siskins decided to irrupt; but, they are fun to have at your feeders. Who’s eating Bark Butter in your yard?

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