New England birders with a keen eye and fully stocked feeders this winter might be rewarded with some special finch sightings.
The Finch Research Network, a nonprofit focused on the study and conservation of finches, has predicted a small to moderate irruption of boreal finches in its annual Winter Finch Forecast. An irruption is when large numbers of birds migrate beyond their normal range. In the finches’ case, it happens when a poor crop of wild food sources in Canada’s boreal forest drives them elsewhere in search of winter sustenance. They may move into New England, the Great Lakes region and sometimes as far south as the Carolinas.
Though there may not be huge groups of these birds pushing south, this year is notable because it’s a multi-species event, said Matt Young, president and founder of the Finch Research Network.
Boreal finches include bright yellow evening grosbeaks, red-hued pine grosbeaks, dainty pine siskins, and redpolls with their bright scarlet foreheads. The forecast also includes birds that are not finches, like red-breasted nuthatches and fruit-eating bohemian waxwings.
Every year, the Finch Research Network asks around 100 volunteers across the boreal forest area to report on the seed production of conifers like spruce and fir, and hardwoods including birch and alder.
“We knew that there was almost no wild food for all of Ontario and Quebec this year,” Young said. He added that the food crop was decent along Canada’s eastern coast into Maine, New Hampshire, across northern Vermont and into the Adirondacks.
But, Young said, it’s not always cut and dry where these birds will end up — whether they’ll seek food in western Canada or head south.
“That's the beauty of finches. Because there's an unpredictability that always leaves you with some intrigue, like, are we going to get birds this year? Are we not going to get them? That's what builds that excitement,” he said.
Cold temperatures and snow can also push some of these species further south, said Michael Hall, a conservation and data scientist at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.
“We have a window to see them while they're here, from roughly November to mid-March, and then they'll start moving their way north again,” he said.
If you’re hoping to spot some of these birds, you may need to go looking. And where you might find them depends on the species. Pine grosbeaks and bohemian waxwings, for example, can be found in fruit trees. Think: fallow apple orchards and crabapple trees around town. Young said you may even want to keep an eye on grocery store parking lots with crabapple trees.
Some of the other species, like evening grosbeaks and redpolls, often congregate in larger groups, sometimes mixed with goldfinches or other species.
“Fallow fields are great places to see redpolls,” Hall said.
As the winter wears on and the birds exhaust their wild food sources, more of them will seek out backyard feeders. Young and Hall said you can’t go wrong by keeping your feeders stocked with black oil sunflower seeds. It’s also important to keep your feeders clean, and place them either within 3 feet — or 30 feet away — from windows to discourage collisions.
Hall and Young encourage people who see any of these bird species to record them on citizen science platforms like iNaturalist and eBird. These observations, along with data from Christmas bird counts around the region, will provide further visibility into the movements of these special winter visitors.
