![]() Pine siskins have already taken the country by storm. into difference results in the different spelling you see-which can be confusing at first, since the words are pronounced nearly the same! Grammatically, this word is related to the more familiar “eruption,” but you can keep these words straight by remembering that things like volcanic ash erupt out of something, while wildlife moving into a new territory is irrupting into something. Irruption is a term used to describe the increase of a plant or animal population in a particular region-like an irruption of evening grosbeaks into the US from Canada. Over many years, Pittaway has established a massive informal network of scientists and volunteers that help him collect cone crop data and predict whether or not an irruption year will happen. If you’d like a fascinating read, I highly recommend this article from The Cornell Lab about Ron Pittaway, the inner workings of the Winter Finch Report, and the enthralling effect it has on the nation’s birding community. The story behind the Winter Finch Report is just as enthralling as the finches. You can read this year’s Winter Finch Report, compiled by Tyler Hoar, here. His reports have been published yearly over the past 20+ years, but this year Ron is retiring and has passed the torch to Tyler Hoar, an experienced volunteer who has helped collect and analyze cone crop data for the report over the years. ![]() It’s a little more complicated than that, though, and Pittaway has over many years refined a process of how to predict when and if winter finches will make a move south. But if there’s plenty of food up north, they’ll stay. Winter finches move with this variable food supply, so if there’s isn’t enough food up north, they’ll move south. These cone crops produce in cycles, with some years producing heavier crops than others. Up until this year, the forecast was written by avid birder and naturalist Ron Pittaway, who lives up in Ontario and has spent years studying the food supply of boreal species-the cone crops of conifer trees. The Winter Finch Forecast has a long history that’s been decades in the making. This week’s Entryway to Birding blog brings you everything you need to know about what winter finch species to expect this year, where to look for them, and how to attract them to your feeder. ![]() ![]() The influx of “winter finches” that we are beginning to see is shaping up to be a year unlike any other in a long, long while. If you’re a new birder that got started during the pandemic, rest assured that you chose an amazing time to begin this hobby. Boreal finches are here, baby! And, if reports from northern Wisconsin are a sign of what’s to come, a whole lot more are on their way. We are still in the midst of fall migration, with hopefully more time before the deep chill of winter sets in, so you might be reading this and thinking this week’s Entryway to Birding blog is a little premature. Every fall, birders anxiously await the predictions of the Winter Finch Forecast-a long-running, volunteer produced publication that aims to predict whether or not boreal finches will move south for the winter. ![]()
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