Embedded Files
Evening Grosbeak
Coccothraustes vespertinusEvening Grosbeak
“The sight of a mountain ash tree full of Evening grosbeaks, feeding on the brilliant red berries is an event long to be remembered,” Eaton (1914) wrote. (Eaton II:253) So, too, the explosive but apparently short-lived increase in this species during the 1960s and 1970s. Indeed, so numerous did these birds become that some people were actually complaining that these “pugnacious and greedy” birds were driving other birds from their feeders! “In some places they are numerous enough to be considered almost as much of a feeder pest as the Starling,” John Brown reported in 1960. One Swain couple complained that the grosbeaks “monopolize the feeders and gorge themselves, driving the other birds away.” (BA, 11 February 1960) One female or immature at a Snyder Drive feeder was observed to take 31 seeds at a single setting after which “the bird sat at the edge of the feeder for a time apparently trying to figure out how it could find room for another sunflower seed meat before it decided it was impossible.” (WBR, 11 September 1961)Mrs. Carl Imm of Fishers called John Brown in 1961 “to say that she would be glad to have someone come out to her Fowler Street home and take a few away.” A flock of about two dozen Evening Grosbeaks had been “bringing their huge appetites to her feeding stations for several days . . eating her out of sunflower seeds, and she has to practically brush them off the feeders to give the chickadees a chance.” (BA, 9 November 1961) “You either love them or you hate them,” Cornell ornithologist Sally Soffard observed. “Some people who start out welcoming them at backyard feeders end up calling our laboratory to find out how to get rid of them.” (DC, 11 December 1968)
And now they are rarely reported here!
Background
Until the middle 1800s, this colorful, gregarious bird was considered a rarity east of the Rockies, and especially east of the Mississippi. Major winter irruptions occurred 1883-1884, 1886-1887, and 1889-1890, with birds during the latter event seen in eastern Canada and New England. Irruptions then occurred with increasing frequency, so that by the 1920s, this species was a regular winter visitor in New England. This species now breeds across southern Canada to the Atlantic. This eastward expansion is often attributed to the planting of box elder in prairie windbreaks and as ornamental trees in northeastern cities. The seeds persist through the winter, allowing erratic wintering flocks of grosbeaks to overwinter, with some birds remaining to breed. Recurring spruce budworm outbreaks in the boreal forests may also have helped this species’ eastward expansion by providing a “superabundant” food source in the summer. Though abundant and widespread, BBS data for 1980-1999 suggest a significantly declining population. Wintering birds in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania reached peak numbers between the 1940s and mid 1980s but have declined “drastically” since. (BNA 599: 3, 17) When the National Audubon Society issued its list of common birds in decline in 2007, it noted: “Evening Grosbeaks are birds of boreal and montane forests and are therefore susceptible to all the incursions into those habitats: logging, mining, drilling, acid rain, and human development for transportation and housing. Chemical control of spruce budworm and other tree pests lowers this species’ food supply and may also cause secondary poisoning. Competition and the spread of disease among house finches, goldfinches, and other feeder birds may also be playing a role in the decline. Global warming is predicted to cause boreal drying and deforestation due to increases in insect populations and fire frequency.”
Local history
Eaton considered Evening Grosbeak a rare winter visitor in Monroe County, primarily during incursions in 1889-90 and 1910-11, but gave no indication of occurrence in Livingston or Wayne counties. (Eaton I: county charts, II: 253-254)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated this was a rare species, recorded in only eight winters. Average counts were one to four birds, with a maximum of 25, on dates ranging from 30 October to 20 May. For a brief period of years they seemed to be increasing in occurrence. A pair observed on 18 April 1932 prompted Horsey and Edson to note that “Since 1927 this bird has been reported here every year except 1931. Before that the reports were much more scattering.” (Advance Guard of Warblers Arrives a Bit Behind Time,” D&C, 2 May 1932) However, by 1943, Edson noted that “from our records it would seem that we cannot expect to see them much oftener than every third year and then only a few individuals. Possibly once in 10 years we see them in numbers.” Judging from reports across this state, it appeared to be just such a winter, he added. (WBR, 6 December 1943)Indeed, a series of incursions occurred in western New York, starting the winter of 1943-44, Beardslee and Mitchell noted (B&M, p. 419), and this bird’s status began to change dramatically soon thereafter. “When in the early 1950s the species gradually spread eastward as a breeder, from western Ontario and Michigan to Nova Scotia and Maine, it became more numerous throughout the northeast during fall, winter and spring,” Bull noted. (Bull, p. 553)Leo Tanghe, examining 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54 found this species reported 45 times, with 30 of the records in fall and 8 in May, and average counts of 10 to 20 birds. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)By 1955, “scattering reports” of one to two birds were recorded almost every winter in the Rochester area, Edson wrote (WBR, 7 November 1955), with “fairly sizeable” flocks appearing on average once in five years. By the late 1950s/early 1960s, Beardslee and Mitchell wrote, “they have usually appeared in two-year cycles, and it seems that the well-stocked feeding stations have been an important factor in the increase of this species here.”Even so, John Brown in 1958 noted that “They are notoriously erratic in their winter wanderings, and there seems no rhyme or reason in their scarcity or abundance in any given place.” (BA, 6 February 1958)Then came the 1960s, when this species also moved south as a breeder into New York and central New England, and it became an abundant statewide visitor at feeding stations and a breeder south almost to the Mohawk valley, Bull noted. Flocks totaling 507 birds on 7 October 1961 (Lloyd) were reported at Webster Park (KB11: 211) and 300 on 5 November 1969 (Listman) were at Carlton. (KB20: 19) That winter (1971-72) brought a particularly large influx of Evening Grosbeaks to the Rochester area, “starting before Christmas, and many people who have never seen them before have scarcely been able to trust their vision,” Brown reported. “There have been too many reports to mention them all, and they have come from many parts of the city and county. The grosbeaks appear around feeders in numbers varying from one or two to fairly large flocks.” (BA, 13 January 1972) Spring 1973 brought a heavy return flight and “a sudden ferocious run on sunflower seeds,” Brown related. Hilda McHugh of Webster, for example, called him on 9 May to report that about 200 “had been around all morning” at her feeder, and that she had already refilled it with sunflower seeds two or three times. “There was a continuing battle going on for places at the feeding shelf, she said.” (BA, 10 May 1973)By 1983, Steve Taylor suggested that “after thirty years of expanding winter feeding operations in the northern states . . . Evening Grosbeaks probably are now migratory rather than irruptive species.” (LG, November 1983)However, since the late 1980s it has been hard to find many years. In 1988 it was observed that “Evening Grosbeaks are at a 15-year low.” (GOS, February 1989) “Where are the Evening Grosbeaks?” Kevin Griffith queried in September 1993. (KB 43:221) As noted in Background above, Evening Grosbeaks have declined significantly as a migrant and winter visitor, and are now found less often and in smaller numbers than during those peak years of the 1960s-1980s.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common to very common winter visitant and an irregular, rare summer resident, but its occurrence as winter visitant has declined significantly since then.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular fairly common winter visitant and a sporadic summer resident/visitant.
Occurrence
Fall/winter: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 27 August to 27 January, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 21 October to 26 November. However, 6 on 14 August 1975 (N. Moon) in Irondequoit were earlier “first of season.” (GNR) Also, one on 19 August 1993 (O’Hara) at Manitou was also an earlier “first” of fall. (GOS, October 1993)
Fall/winter maxima: 200 on 24 October 1975 (J. and T. McNett) at Webster. (LG, November 1975) 250 on 25 October 1975 (R. and S. Spahn) west lakeshore. (GNR) 300 on 5 November 1969 (Listman) at Carlton. (GNR) 200+ on 6 November 1972 (J. and T. McNett) west lakeshore. (GOS, January 1973) 180 on 10 November 1974 (N. Prosser) lakeshore. (GOS, January 1975) 250 on 13 November 1995 (Czech) Cumming Nature Center. (GOS, January 1996) 150 on 17 November 1975 (Symonds) at Hamlin Beach SP. (GNR) 150 on 20 November 1971 (Listman) at Braddock Bay. (GOS, January 1972) 187 on 23 December 1981 Little Finger Lakes area. (GNR)
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 20 February to 12 June (1970), with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 6 to 24 May. Spring maxima: 800 (in four hours) on 12 May 1978 (R. Dobson) Braddock Bay. (KB 28:172, GNR) 300 on 13 May 1962 (McKinney) Manitou. (KB 12:92) 1,000 on 13 May 1978 (Listman) Braddock Bay. (LG, June 1978) 300 on 14 May 1972 (B. and G. Perrigo) lakeshore. (KB 22:130) Summer/breeding status: On 25 June 1962, “two pairs of adult Evening Grosbeaks, accompanied by three young just out of the nest appeared at the John W. Jordan feeder in Pittsford.” (KB12: 148) This first breeding record for our area was “totally unexpected and unprecedented.” (WBR 16 July 1962) But it was not isolated. As Bull records, “it was during the year 1962, following the largest autumnal flight on record, that the Evening Grosbeak really ‘went places.’ ” It was the first time that the species bred far outside the usual boreal evergreen forest zone with nestings occurring at Schenectady, Ithaca and Dutchess County as well. (Bull, p. 553)When John Brown was invited by the Jordans to have a look “we didn’t have to wait long.” The “distinctive grosbeak call notes” announced the arrival of an adult female with a young bird. Eventually both pairs with their young were present. “The pair with two young moved down to the feeding station in the shade and the adults immediately started gourmandizing sunflower seeds in their typically noisy way. Every now and then one of them would thrust a beak into the gape of a young bird, but it was difficult to determine whether the feeding consisted of seed kernels or other pre-digested and regurgitated food.” (BA, 28 June 1962)Photos of the young grosbeaks were taken by Brown and appeared with his column on 12 July 1962. This species’ breeding presence in our region continues to be extremely limited, however.It was confirmed breeding in only two blocks – one near Naples, the other in Monroe County – during the first Breeding Bird Atlas project, and in only a single block, in Springwater, during the second.
Birds that are apparently non-breeding visitors also appear in summer. For example, one on 12-13 July 1978 (G. and J. Davis) was at Ellison Park (GNR) and one on 23 June 2003 (C. Cass, Mather) was at Mendon Ponds. (LG, September 2003)
Pine Grosbeak
Pinicola enucleatorPine Grosbeak
This “gentle, unobtrusive” visitor from boreal forests “always seems to be perfectly contented with its situation wherever encountered,” Eaton (194) observed. “A whole tree full of these birds may frequently be seen feeding on the seeds of mountain ash berries, apples or the buds of beeches. One may stand within a few feet of them for a long time without their taking any notice of one’s presence. They are rather slow and deliberate in manner.” Eaton II: 255-256)Dort Cameron was alerted to the presence of two of these birds in a spruce tree on Chili Avenue “by fragments of spruce cones floating down,” John Brown reported. By standing “on the back of his car he was able to get within eight or 10 feet of them.” (BA, 24 October 1957)During November 1993 as many as 13 could be observed feeding on ash and other seed-bearing trees during several days at Parking Lot No. 1 at Hamlin Beach SP. They were quite unmindful of birders setting up scopes nearby to enjoy a rare “winter finch” – close enough, in fact, to see the “seed fins stick out from their bills as they eat the seed.” (Marcotte diary entry, 14 November 1993)The “tew too too” call is very much like that of a yellowlegs.
Background
This large, unwary bird of subarctic and boreal forests tends to irrupt less frequently than other “winter finches,” and even when it does, seldom wanders much farther than the northern United States, feeding on seeds of box elder, ash and mountain ash. Populations in the western Rockies and coastal forests apparently do not irrupt at all. It breeds in Europe and Asia as well, preferring open forests, often near the treeline in mountainous areas or near natural and man-made openings. The short, conical bill allows this species to nip buds and growing tips of conifer branches, and to crush seeds. Vegetable matter constitutes 99 percent of the adult diet for most of the year. But it feeds its young mainly on insects. It has expanded its range significantly in Alaska since the 1980s, but there is very little data to assess this species’ overall population and trends. (BNA 456: 1, 3, 5, 13)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this species as only an occasional winter visitor in Monroe and Wayne counties. He gave no indication of occurrence in Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts) However, there is evidence this species was more frequently encountered during the first half of the 20th century than it has been since. For example, R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated this species was “seen almost every year,” with average counts of one to two, but a maximum of 75, on dates ranging from 27 October to 19 April. Curiously, in a 1929 weekly bird column, Horsey and Edson implied an even higher average: “In the flocks usually seen here running from ten to thirty birds, one seldom sees more than one of three full plumaged males with the rosy red in place of the olive yellow.” (“Two Northerners Drop In To Sample Rochester Food,” D&C, 25 November 1929)These docile visitors were “always to be seen” in the Durand-Eastman crabapple orchard, Edson added in 1942. (WBR, 19 January 1942) A particularly good incursion occurred during the fall and winter of 1951-1952. During November, anywhere from two to 50 were tallied at Durand-Eastman and elsewhere; in December they were seen “on every trip to the crab apple orchard in Durand-Eastman Park” with a peak count of 62; in January they were “abundant in Durand-Eastman and Genesee Valley Parks (up to 50 birds at a time).” (GOS, June/December 1951; March/April 1952)When Leo Tanghe analyzed 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported more than twice as often as Evening Grosbeak, showing up on 103 lists within a 50-mile radius of Rochester, compared to 45 for Evening Grosbeak. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)However, five on 4 November 1961 (Listman et al) at Manitou came after an absence of 3 ½ years, Miller noted. (KB11: 211) Pine Grosbeak “probably is the most irregular and erratic of the winter finches,” he added a year later. (GOS, May 1962) Beardslee and Mitchell (1965) considered this a “rare and irregular visitor from the north,” (B&M, p. 421) and Bull in 1974 called it the “rarest of the ‘winter’ finches in the state, excepting only the Hoary Redpoll. . . . and irrupts in much smaller numbers than does the Evening Grosbeak.” (Bull, p. 560) By then, of course, Evening Grosbeak had expanded its range southward and become much more common here.In any event, this sounds more like the “feast or famine” pattern of Pine Grosbeak appearances that birders have come to expect now.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an irregular, fairly common winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a sporadic uncommon winter visitant.
Occurrence
Fall/winter: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 3 October to 2 January, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 30 October to 13 December. Subsequently, one 7 September 1997 (W. and R. Colsman) at Bristol was record early. (GOS, November 1997)This is now one of the scarcer “winter finches” to appear here, during periodic irruptions that are unpredictable. (Levine, p. 559) Flocks of up to 21 and 35 were reported from various locations during December 1985/January 1986. (LG, January and February 1986)
Other maxima: Max. 40 during 8-30 November 1954 (mob) at Durand-Eastman and Hamlin Beach. (GNR) 100 on 11 November 1957 (Haller, Listman) at Durand-Eastman. (KB7:121) 32 on 21 November 1965 (Lloyd, Sunderlin) at Durand-Eastman Park. (GOS, January 1966) 30 on 19 December 1954 (Tanghe, R. Dobson) at Durand-Eastman Park. (GNR) 121 on 22 December 1968, Conesus-Hemlock-Honeoye Lakes (“Little Lakes”) CBC. (KB 19:104) 113 on 30 December 1961 on WHICH CBC. (GOS, February 1962) 50 on 6 January 1969 (Hartranft) at Palmyra. (KB 19:104) 30-45 from 7 January to 7 February 1978, Durand-Eastman Park. (KB 28: 107) 64 on 14 January 1973 (Listman et al) east lakeshore. (KB 23:90) 50 on 20 January 1973 (J. and J. Connor) at Mendon Ponds Park. (KB 23:90) 30 on 29 January- 5 February 1978 (R. and F. Dobson; R. Spahn) at Durand-Eastman Park. (GNR) 40 on 16 March 1978 (C. Taylor) Durand-Eastman Park. (LG, April 1978)
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 16 January to 18 May (1952), with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 20 February to 2 April. Subsequently, one on 21 May 2002 (Beltz) at Penfield was later. (GNR)
Purple Finch
Haemorhous purpureusformerly Carpodacus purpureusPurple Finch
“Anyone who has ever heard a Purple finch singing in the bright sunshine of early spring could only wish that this melodious warbling would remain a part of the local chorus of bird song,” John Brown wrote in 1965.Eaton (1914) considered this “the most impassioned bird song that we have in our groves and woodlands,” the bird at times soaring up 200 or 300 feet in the air while delivering its song with “vibrating wings” and “swelling throat.” “I have also seen him dancing about the female on the limbs of a tree or on the ground with his wings fully extended and quivering, his crest raised to its utmost, his tail spread and the brilliant feathers of his rump raised in the air, all the while uttering his melodious warble, sotto voce, until, apparently overcome by his emotion, he closed his wings and flew to a neighboring tree.” (Eaton II: 264) “Unfortunately,” Brown noted, “most of these finches heard here are migrants on their way to coniferous forests farther north or at higher elevations.” (BA, 1 July 1965)The Breeding Bird Atlas projects have demonstrated that this species breeds throughout our region, though it apparently does so only sparingly along the lakeshore and, even in higher elevations to the south, seems to be declining in numbers.
Background
“Although widespread and regularly seen, this bird is one of the least-studied finches in North America because it is neither common enough to be easily studied nor rare enough to be threatened with extinction,” notes J. Timothy Wootton in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. It is “moderately” common across the northern U.S., southern and central Canada and the west coast of North America, nesting primarily in moist coniferous forests, but also in mixed forest, ornamental plantations, orchards, pastures, lawns with scattered conifers and shrubs, and clearings associated with bogs. Migration in the east characterized by “biennial incursions” reaching as far as the southern states, triggered by variability of conifer cone crops. Winter invasions of the northeast U.S. appear to be from north-central breeding populations. BBS data indicate declines of 50 percent in the breeding population in the northeast U.S. and southern Canada from 1966 to 1994. This decline is “strongly associated” with invasion of House Finches in eastern North America, “not with changes in climatic or habitat variables.” Populations stable in western North America for the same period. (BNA 208: 1, 4, 13)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a fairly common summer resident in Monroe County, uncommon in Livingston and common in Wayne, and a common transient in Monroe. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated that this resident was “often more seen in winter than in summer.” He reported average counts of one to four birds, with a maximum of 25.“During the warmer months the sight of even a single bird is something of a red letter day,” Edson wrote. (WBR, 24 November 1958)Leo Tanghe, in his 1953 list of nesting birds in the Rochester area, also considered this a rare breeder, and mentioned a single nesting location: the corner of Florida and Dewey avenues. (GOS, May/August 1953)When he examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this species was reported 278 times, primarily as a spring migrant with 126 records from the second week in April through the third week in May. There were fewer sightings June through August (21) than in January and February (39) – just as Horsey had observed. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common spring transient; a regular, uncommon summer resident and a regular, fairly common fall transient and winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular uncommon to common winter visitant, a (presumably regular) fairly common to uncommon spring and fall transient and a regular fairly common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 21 February to 5 April, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 4 to 19 March. In most years transients had departed by 5 May, with a late departure date of 20 May.
Spring maxima: 160 on 10 March 1973 (Hartranft) at Palmyra. (KB 23: 90) 75 on 18 April 1959 (Listman) at Manitou. (GNR) 75 in one tree on 18 April 1975 (McNetts) in Island Cottage Wood. (BA, 23 April 1975) 300 on 30 April 1960 (Listman) flew by Manitou. (GOS, March/July 1960) 170 on 30 April 2004 (D. Tetlow) at Braddock Bay. (LG, June 2004) 200 on 7 May 1972 (T. Tetlow) at Dansville. (GNR) 300 from 6-10 a.m. on 12 May 1978 (R. Dobson) at west spit, Braddock Bay. (KB 28:172) Summer/breeding status: This species nests sparingly along the Lake Ontario shoreline and plains. “The purple finch is a nesting bird in this area, but in small numbers, in the evergreens in Highland Park-Eastman and the evergreen plantations in the vicinity of the lakeside park,” Edson reported in 1958. “They also like to nest in the juniper trees around the Hemlock, Honeoye, Conesus area.” (WBR, 24 November 1958) A pair was observed feeding two young on 15 June that year (R. Dobson) in Riverside Cemetery. (KB 8:81)In addition, “the large number of evergreens in the Oak Hill County Club area” apparently hosted as many as two or three pair of nesting Purple Finches in 1965, Brown noted. Mrs. John W. Jordan of Overbrook Road – who three years earlier had reported the first documented nesting of Evening Grosbeaks in our area – notified Brown that the Purple Finches had “returned regularly” that summer to feed on sunflower seeds at her feeder. “One pair has brought in at least two young.” (BA, 1 July 1965)Another pair was reported nesting along East View Terrace, Pittsford, where a female was observed with two young in early July 1975. “She won’t allow them to venture on the feeder but makes them wait in a nearby tree while she procures the sunflower seed,” Brown reported. (BA, 9 July 1975)During the first BBA project this species was found in about half the blocks assigned to our region, especially in eastern and southern Monroe, western and eastern Wayne and in the higher elevation blocks of southern Livingston and Ontario counties. It was most noticeably absent from western Monroe, central Wayne and parts of northern and central Livingston. During the second project, evidence of breeding was much more scattered in Monroe County with most lakeplain nesting recorded in Wayne County.
Even in those higher elevations to the south, it “has been declining…for at least a decade,” Fox notes. (Fox, p. 101)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 23 September to 20 October, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 3 to 16 October. In most years had departed by 10 November, with a late departure date of 18 November.
Fall maxima: 200 on 22 September 1977 (Perrigo) at Hamlin Beach SP during an invasion of winter finches. (KB 28:41) 60 on 28 September 1975 (Perrigo) at Island Cottage. (LG, October 1975)
Winter: About 20 of these birds at Highland Park on 27 January 1938 merited a noteworthy entry in a young birder’s diary.“They were studied very closely not more than 6 feet for about 10 minutes with 4 power glasses,” Richard O’Hara, then 14, recorded. “They were feeding on small red berries from some shrubs near the lilacs. They were very tame and permitted a very close approach if one was careful enough.”Flocks of 10 or more were in Durand-Eastman Park nearly every winter, Edson noted in 1958. (WBR, 24 November 1958) However, numbers can fluctuate dramatically. For example, “after barely any reports last winter Purple Finches seemingly were reported at every feeder in large numbers,” Bill Symonds noted in his April 2004 Field Notes. (LG, June 2004)
Winter maxima: 45 on 6 January 1980 (Lloyd) Sodus. (GOS, March 1980) 45 on 16 January 2005 (D. Tetlow, Davids) at Rattlesnake Hill. (LG, March 2005) 70 on 23 January 1976 (H. Madden) Conesus Lake. (KB 26:103) 100 on 15 February 1979 (C. Cass) Cumming Nature Center. (GOS, April 1979) Misc.
“Often a plentiful food supply will influence individual birds to change their nesting habits,” Horsey and Edson noted in 1929. “Such a case has occurred in Highland Park with a purple finch. This species seems never to have been recorded as nesting anywhere but in evergreens, but one female . . .built her nest in a smoke tree. Finches are great consumers of the seeds of this tree, and it certainly is convenient for the nesting bird to have a well-stocked larder of its favorite food right at its doorstep so that it does not have to go out of sight of its treasures while feeding.” (“Mrs. Finch Likes to Eat, So She Builds Near Big Larder,” D&C, 22 July 1929)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 23 September to 20 October, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 3 to 16 October. In most years had departed by 10 November, with a late departure date of 18 November.
Fall maxima: 200 on 22 September 1977 (Perrigo) at Hamlin Beach SP during an invasion of winter finches. (KB 28:41) 60 on 28 September 1975 (Perrigo) at Island Cottage. (LG, October 1975)
Winter: About 20 of these birds at Highland Park on 27 January 1938 merited a noteworthy entry in a young birder’s diary.“They were studied very closely not more than 6 feet for about 10 minutes with 4 power glasses,” Richard O’Hara, then 14, recorded. “They were feeding on small red berries from some shrubs near the lilacs. They were very tame and permitted a very close approach if one was careful enough.”Flocks of 10 or more were in Durand-Eastman Park nearly every winter, Edson noted in 1958. (WBR, 24 November 1958) However, numbers can fluctuate dramatically. For example, “after barely any reports last winter Purple Finches seemingly were reported at every feeder in large numbers,” Bill Symonds noted in his April 2004 Field Notes. (LG, June 2004)
Winter maxima: 45 on 6 January 1980 (Lloyd) Sodus. (GOS, March 1980) 45 on 16 January 2005 (D. Tetlow, Davids) at Rattlesnake Hill. (LG, March 2005) 70 on 23 January 1976 (H. Madden) Conesus Lake. (KB 26:103) 100 on 15 February 1979 (C. Cass) Cumming Nature Center. (GOS, April 1979) Misc.
“Often a plentiful food supply will influence individual birds to change their nesting habits,” Horsey and Edson noted in 1929. “Such a case has occurred in Highland Park with a purple finch. This species seems never to have been recorded as nesting anywhere but in evergreens, but one female . . .built her nest in a smoke tree. Finches are great consumers of the seeds of this tree, and it certainly is convenient for the nesting bird to have a well-stocked larder of its favorite food right at its doorstep so that it does not have to go out of sight of its treasures while feeding.” (“Mrs. Finch Likes to Eat, So She Builds Near Big Larder,” D&C, 22 July 1929)
House Finch
Haemorhous mexicanusformerly Carpodacus mexicanusHouse Finch
The House Finches that confiscated the decorative wreath on the front door of the Knauf residence in 1989 were simply doing what countless other house finches have done in the Rochester area since their arrival as a breeding species here. Using our houses for their own. No doubt the fact that the door was “under the cover of a porch” enhanced its appeal as a nesting location. With the kindly cooperation of the Knaufs, who roped off the porch to minimize disturbance, the finches fledged five young. (Birds, 28 May 1989)However, a pair of House Finches at the University of Rochester definitely took things to an extreme. John Friedly, professor of chemical engineering, was in the habit of working with his office window open. In 1986, a pair of House Finches flew into Friedly’s office and “after a brief discussion between themselves,” began to build a nest in a large Swedish ivy plant on the professor’s desk. Eventually, four nestlings fledged and flew away. “The parents sang a duet for Professor Friedly and they, too, flew off. The unusual happening was soon forgotten” – until a pair returned to nest in the ivy plant the following year. And fledged three young. (“Finches find sweet home in ‘ivy league,’” D&C, 5 July 1987)The startling expansion of this species’ breeding presence here beginning in the 1970s – and its equally startling decline as the result of eye disease – has been amply documented.
Background
“One of the most notable ornithological events of the twentieth century in North America has been the spread of the House Finch throughout the eastern portion of the continent from a small number of birds liberated on Long Island, New York in 1940,” Geoffrey E. Hill notes in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America. In its native western United States this species occupies a wide range of habitat, from undisturbed desert to urban areas, but in the eastern U.S. it is rarely found far from urban or suburban areas. By 1993, westward expansion of the eastern birds had reached North Dakota and Oklahoma, and was continuing. “The conversion of vast areas of forest, grassland, and desert into uniform areas of lawns, ornamental trees, and buildings created enormous areas of ideal habitat for House Finches.” Often nests on ledges, in vents, street lamps, hanging plants or in ivy on buildings, raising as many as three broods per year. Juveniles disperse over wide areas, with few returning to natal areas. This has helped this species expand so quickly. (BNA 46: 1-3, 12-13, 17) Local history
In May 1956, a bird that looked like “a Purple Finch with orange, instead of red” showed up in the backyard of Joseph and Thelma McNett on Lake Road in Webster. When it returned on the 31st, they called up Bea and Allen Kemnitzer, who hurried over for a look. “All four of us had ample opportunity to study the bird in question at distances of 25 to 75 feet using binoculars and a 30-power spotting scope to clarify certain markings and patterns,” they reported. The song was particularly distinctive, “an introduction of several single notes which finally ran together in to a rather disjointed wavy warble which sometimes ended in an upward ‘whee.’” There could be no question. Rochester had its first documented House Finch. (GOS, January/June 1956)Their arrival and eventual spread in the east is comparable to what happened with House Sparrows and Starlings, albeit with less disruption to native birds. These finches are native to the western United States. However, for almost half a century there was a “heavy cage-bird trade” of this species, which was known as California Linnet and Hollywood Finch, Gilbert Cant notes in his interesting history of this bird’s arrival and spread in New York.“They were trapped as pests around California orchards, and sold for an average of 25 cents each.” Cant received a pair in 1933 from a New Jersey pet shop. By 1940, “by a legal quirk, the House Finch had been put on the list of birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty with Mexico (despite its non-migratory habits!). This enabled the National Audubon Society to bring down the law on proprietors of about 20 pet shops which had stocks of the birds. Several pet-shop owners, probably in Manhattan as well as in Brooklyn, disposed of the evidence against them by the simple expedient of releasing the birds. Nobody expected them to survive in a climate so different from that of their native habitat.”But, of course, they did. In 1943 House Finches were found nesting at Babylon. Cant speculated it is possible this species was breeding on the mainland even earlier, but were confused with Purple Finches. (KB 12:68-69)The second sighting here was on 20 April 1970 when a male appeared at the feeder of Francelia Munson in Penfield. (BA, 23 April 1970; see GOS, June 1970, for a detailed description)In late May 1971, Mrs. Herbert A. Lauterbach of 3245 St. Paul Blvd., called Brown to say she had birds that she couldn’t identify at her feeder. Her description sounded like Purple Finch, “but she was quite sure it wasn’t that.”Brown passed the information along to Neil Moon who dropped by and concluded they were male and female House Finches, which was soon corroborated by other birders.Mrs. Lauterbach reported that she had seen the male feeding the female – possibly as part of courtship. (BA, 3 June 1971)Later in June, she called back to report that “one of the pair had turned up at the feeder with a young bird. Though no nest or eggs have as yet been found, it seems certain that they nested in the immediate vicinity,” Brown noted. (BA, 24 June 1971) This was entered as the first breeding record for Region 2. (KB 21: 221)Birds were reported at Penfield, Fairport, Lima and Webster in spring 1973 (KB23: 146; BA, 12 April 1973) and at LeRoy and Palmyra that fall (KB 24: 19), but there was “still no population explosion.” Beginning in the mid to late 1970s, however, House Finches increased phenomenally in our area. During July 1977, for example, Arnett Boulevard in Rochester was the place to find House Finches – anywhere from five to 17 tallied. (LG, August 1977) Other colonies were noted at Highland Park, Brighton, and Pittsford (KB 27:98, 27:218, 28:107), so that by 1978 few birders went “out of their way to find or report” these birds. (KB 28:240) They reached Greece in 1979 (KB 30:33) and during the winter of 1979-80 there were “reports from all over,” including an “enormous gathering” of 95 on 7 January 1980 (R. Clark, Davids, Perrigo) at Mt. Morris “feeding noisily in a multiflora hedgerow.” (LG, February 1980; KB 30:109) “House Finches are being reported from almost everywhere in Monroe County and this year will undoubtedly be a year of breeding saturation,” Chip Perrigo observed in 1978. “These bright rosy red finches have a liquid effervescent song that will be a blessing far and above the vulgar chirping of English Sparrows. Move over House Sparrow – a new feeder champion is about to shake your once secure urban eves and hedgerows.” (LG, April 1978)On 12 November 1984, Frank Dobson tallied 500 in Orleans County, and the species was clearly “thriving.” (KB 35:44; GOS, January 1985) More recently, this species has been afflicted by mycoplasmal conjunctivitis, an eye disease first reported among House Finches in the Washington, D.C. area in 1994, that blinds these birds and causes starvation. (Marcotte, p. 57) Rapid spread of the disease was attributed, at least in part, to use of tube feeders where these finches press against the feeder surface to extract seed. This has facilitated spread of the disease from bird to bird. Numbers have plummeted here as a result, as documented on CBC data.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) considered this a common to very common permanent resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) also considered this a common to very common permanent resident.
Occurrence
The first BBA project confirmed breeding in almost every block in Monroe and eastwards into western Wayne counties. But there was less evidence of breeding farther west into Orleans, and other noticeable gaps in northeastern Genesee, eastern Wyoming and southern Livingston counties. Most of those gaps were filled in during the second project.
Misc.
Recently fledged young still have tiny ear tufts, Frank Dobson noted in one of his columns, “a trait little noted in any of the commonly used field guides” but invariably producing inquiries from feeder watchers. (Birds, 23 June 1991)
Recently fledged young still have tiny ear tufts, Frank Dobson noted in one of his columns, “a trait little noted in any of the commonly used field guides” but invariably producing inquiries from feeder watchers. (Birds, 23 June 1991)
Common Redpoll
Acanthis flammeaformerly Carduelis flammea Common Redpoll
These nervous little red-capped, black-chinned fall and winter visitors flock to seed-bearing alders, birches and spruces, and to backyard feeders. But they may be “easily startled,” Allen Kemnitzer noted. “Then, they take instant flight, wheeling about in formations in a series of aerial gyrations, sometimes disappearing from sight, sometimes returning quite suddenly to the very place form which they took flight.” (WBR, 15 November 1965)Edson found it always interesting to watch a flock of redpolls “as they seem to represent a true democracy. There appears to be no leader, but if the flock decides to move, no long discussion of the matter is involved, no individuals start out, and no stragglers are left behind. The whole flock starts as from a signal and in mid-flight the direction is changed as quickly and efficiently as that of well-drilled troops. . . . Apparently they are so closely in accord that no leader is required and no signals necessary.” (WBR, 18 March 1940)The chet-chet-chet call is distinctive as birds fly overheard.
Background
Are there one, two or six species of redpolls? Taxonomists continue to debate the issue. In the meantime, this species is found in boreal and taiga regions of both Old and New World Arctic “where they are often among the most common breeding passerines,” notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. They prefer open, largely coniferous forest and scrub, avoiding dense forest. Many birds at northern end of range move farther south in winter. Alternate-year irruptions are apparently driven by widespread failure in seed-crop production of spruce, birch and other high-latitude trees. “Since 1960, with 1 exception (1969), irruptions in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and at other locations have been in even-numbered years.” Individual birds can wander extraordinary distances: one bird banded in Belgium was recovered two winters later in China. (BNA 543: 1, 5, 7,) Local history
Eaton (1910) listed them as only occasional or irregular winter visitors in our region. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of two to 25 birds, with a maximum count of 150, on dates ranging from 31 October to 20 April.Edson in 1939 considered it an “erratic winter resident. Some winters it is to be seen only as an individual or in very small flocks – so few, in numbers, as to seem to be absent.” However, he added, “No doubt, if this vicinity could be covered thoroughly enough it would be seen every winter.” (WBR 27 February 1939)When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this species was reported 149 times – more than any other “winter finch” except Pine Siskin – from November through April, with average tallies reaching 100-200 birds in March. (KB 5:69: 7A-7B)In November 1965, “hundreds” appeared in the Rochester area after being unreported at all the previous fall and winter. (WBR, 15 November 1965) In December 1993 “Flocks of 800+ were reported from many locations.” (LG, January 1994)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, uncommon to very common (in some years abundant) winter visitant. Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular fairly common to very common winter visitant.
Occurrence
Fall/winter: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 17 October to 19 January, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 29 October to 13 November. Subsequently, five on 9 October 2005 (D. Tetlow) at Hogan Point were record early. (KB 56:70) The Lake Ontario shoreline is a favorite corridor when major irruptions occur; during the November 1965 movement, for example, “numerous small flocks of 10 to 50 … were … migrating eastward along the lakeshore” one morning. (WBR, 15 November 1965)Fall birds do not necessarily linger. After the strong flight noted below in 1991, this species had all but vanished by the end of the month. (GOS, January 1992) Or note this pattern during the winter of 1971-72: “It is fascinating to find that only 6 (redpolls) appeared on the RCC December 19 (1971) but 1,284 were in the hills south of the lake plain on January 2,” Richard O’Hara noted. “By January 10 they were in the city and subsequently seen everywhere in good numbers; these birds were still appearing at feeders at the end of March.” (KB22: 87-88).
Fall maxima: 1,000 on 29 October 1959 (Listman) lakeshore. (GNR) 3,000+ on 17 November 1991 (Genesee Ornithological Society trip) west lakeshore. (GOS, January 1992) 1,100+ on 7 December 1985 (T. Bartlett) at Kendall. (GOS, February 1986) 1,284 on 2 January 1972, hills to south of Rochester. (KB 22: 87) 3,000 and 1,000 on 29 January 1994 at Hamlin (Griffith) and at Pittsford (D. Henderson). (LG, February 1994) 1,250 on 17 February 1987 (Griffith) west lakeshore. (LG, March 1987) Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 24 February to 10 May, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 7 March to 17 April. Subsequently, two on 21 May 2004 (D. Tetlow) at Hogan Point set a new record late date. (GOS, July 2004)Strong return flights can occur this time of year. During March 1987 there was a “steady passage of 10-600 Common Redpolls per day” at Braddock Bay, culminating in the maxima noted below on the 24th and 25th. (GOS, May 1987)
Spring maxima: 1,000 on 7 March 1998 (Sherony, G. Chapin, Marcotte) at Hamlin. (GOS, May 1998) 1,000 on 9 March 1958 (R. Dobson) along the parkway. (GOS, March/May 1958) 2,680 and 2,410 on 24 and 25 March 1987 (Nicoletti) at Braddock Bay. (GOS, May 1987)
Hoary Redpoll
Acanthis hornemanniformerly Carduelis hornemanni[Formerly considered a separate species, was changed to Acanthis subspecies in 2024]Hoary Redpoll
After John Bull’s Birds of New York State was printed in 1974, Rochester birders were no doubt a little defensive about reporting Hoary Redpolls. These rare northern visitors can be very difficult to find, much less identify, amid throngs of Common Redpolls. Bull, who was “unable to vouch for the correctness of any observations of Hoary Redpolls within the state,” was especially leery of the 10 reported on the Rochester CBC on 22 December 1946. “Needless to say,” this record “should not be taken seriously,” he contended. (Bull, p. 563) However, as John Brown was careful to point out, there appeared to be little room for doubt about the bird that showed up at a feeder maintained by Allen and Bea Kemnitzer on Five Mile Line Road in Webster in February 1978. The bird, which stuck around several days and was observed by dozens of birders at close range, “is generally a lighter, frostier-looking bird than the Common redpolls, and its diagnostic field mark, a white, completely unstreaked rump, has been plainly visible.” (BA, 1 March 1978)Whether this would have satisfied Mr. John Bull is conjectural; however, the report was accepted by the New York State Avian Records Committee along with another from our region. Three other records statewide were also accepted by NYSARC that year, with another bird photographed for American Birds and “others noted without details in several of The Kingbird Regional Reports.” Altogether, this added up to “the largest influx of Hoary Redpolls ever recorded in New York State” at that time. (KB 29:123)
Background
This “bright little bird of the high Arctic” has been likened to “drifting snowflakes” and resembles “fluffy snowballs when perched,” notes the profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. Distributed across Alaska, northern Canada, and northern Europe and Asia, this species undergoes two-year irruptive population cycles, “similar to and linked to those of the Common Redpoll,” when it becomes more abundant at the southern edge of its wintering range. Even in its winter range, some birds must survive the perpetual darkness of the arctic winter; how they cope “remains largely a mystery.” “Plumage of both Hoary and Common redpoll varies and dark Hoary (often young or female) can be mistaken for pale (often older male) Common Redpoll.” However, differences in the two species’ in arrival and departure times at breeding grounds, and differences in their relative abundance from year to year, in their habitat preferences, diets, calls, physiology, behavior, size and appearance suggest Hoary is “best treated as a separate species.” For example, Hoary Redpoll extends farther into the tundra than Common Redpoll. Numbers on breeding grounds in some areas vary from year to year, from absent to abundant, “independently from similarly wide variations in Common Redpoll numbers.” (BNA 544: 1, 3, 5, 11)
Local history
Eaton (1910) shows no occurrences for Livingston, Monroe or Wayne counties in his county charts. First known record for Monroe County was on 8 February 1938, when two or more were “noted in birches in Highland Park . . . by R. E. Horsey.” They were seen several more times by other birders, including Miller and Edson. (Horsey, in the 1938 additions to his list of species seen in Rochester and Monroe County for 1913-1936) “A flock of redpolls at close range, in good light, should be observed carefully, for it is possible the hoary redpoll may be among the number,” Edson wrote in one of his bird columns that month. “In the flock of redpolls at Highland Park are at least two, possibly more, of this rare bird, which, as far as we know, has not previously been recorded in Monroe County. It is, of course, possible that it has been overlooked, as the redpolls are very active and are not always quite long enough in good light, to permit a careful study of the markings and color.” (WBR, 14 February 1938) These suspicions were reinforced when Howard Miller reported another Hoary in a flock of Common Redpolls at Durand-Eastman Park the following year. (“G.O.S. Reaches 10th Birthday,” GOS, May/July 1948) “Since its appearance two years in succession we wonder if it has simply been passed as a redpoll,” Edson mused, “but by the unusually good light and the alert observation of R. E. Horsey last winter it was brought to the attention of many bird students and now this bird can no longer escape detection.” (WBR, 6 March 1939)A “pronounced flight” occurred during the winter of 1946-1947, “starting with a record of five seen in a flock of about 500 Common Redpolls near Braddock’s Bay on December 22,” Beardslee and Mitchell reported. (B&M, p. 423) They were part of those disputed 10 tallied on the Rochester CBC that day. Nine sightings followed during the 1950s – including three that Listman found on 29 October 1959 at Braddock Bay (unpublished GNR) – but only five in the early 1960s. There were no reports at all in the Kingbird from 1965 until 1974, when a flurry of sightings occurred February through April. Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an irregular, rare winter visitant, but it has been reported annually in recent years.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a casual rare winter visitant.
Occurrence
This remains a rare visitor, but has been recorded annually since 1993. About 70 records since 1952, on dates ranging from 29 October (1959) to 13 April (1974). The vast majority, about 60, occurred December through March.
At least eight were reported during the winter of 1999-2000 (KB 50:161, 284) – “their best winter ever for this area,” Bill Symonds noted (LG May 2000) – when an irruption of redpolls resulted in twenty-eight Hoary sightings statewide. (KB 52:303-4) Maxima: 3 on 29 October 1959 (Listman) at Braddock Bay (KB 9:163) 3 on 6 December 1993 (Listman) at Hamlin Beach SP (KB 44:124) State birding authorities are no longer reluctant, as Bull was, to accept sight records. In fact, by 2006 “with improved understanding of the important field marks and better photo documentation, NYS has seen a sustained increase in acceptable reports of this species,” NYSARC noted, announcing it would no longer require documentation for reports from northern and central parts of the state. (KB 56:19). Even so, about a third of the 20 records submitted to NYSARC from Region 2 since 1978 have not been accepted by that committee.For example, in commenting on a record from 5 January 2002 at Hamlin Beach SP, the committee noted: “Although a Hoary Redpoll was documented at Hamlin Beach on 12 Dec 2001 (see 2001-84-A, above) and reported several times after that date, the Committee was not convinced that the present report referred to a Hoary Redpoll. The report was brief and the statement that ‘the bird was not very light’ was not indicative of a Hoary Redpoll.” On the other hand, it accepted a report from Don Traver of one from 17 February 2002 at Webster, noting: “This bird was part of a group of 50 or so redpolls that frequented the observer’s feeding station for a few days. The Hoary was identified by its overall paleness, just a few thin wispy flank streaks, a buffy wash on the head, completely unstreaked undertail coverts, and a ‘flat’ face with a smaller bill than shown by the Commons.” (KB 54:301)
Red Crossbill
Loxia curvirostraRed Crossbill
Eaton (1914) found these visitors from the north to be “gentle and approachable in disposition, exhibiting very little fear of mankind. I have frequently stood under a hemlock or a spruce for some time without realizing that 20 or 30 crossbills were scattered throughout the top of the tree, twisting the seeds from the cones, until the little wings which they had cut from the seeds came floating down and advised me of their presence.“They are very dexterous in their work of extracting seeds from the cones, climbing about and hanging by their feet and bills almost as expertly as parrots.” (Eaton, II: 267)The relative tameness of these birds was noted when an influx of them came to feeders in February 1964. (BA, 20 February 1964) Chopped walnut meats were the favored food of as many as eight Red Crossbills coming to Francelia T. Munson’s feeder in Penfield in March 1970. “On at least one occasion Mrs. Munson observed a male crossbill feeding a female select morsels in the fashion of Cardinals and White-breasted nuthatches,” John Brown reported. (BA, 26 March 1970)Though highly erratic and variable in its appearances here, this irruptive species is eagerly anticipated by local birders, if only for a glimpse of the unique crossed mandibles that enable this bird to extract seeds from evergreen cones.
Background
One of the complexities of studying this bird is trying to determine if this is one species or several. Eight different flight calls north of the Mexican border have been associated with discrete, nomadic populations “that are usually reproductively isolated from all other crossbills,” even when breeding alongside each other, notes Curtis S. Adkisson in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. “The strong association of each call type with certain conifer species led (one researcher) to propose that each call type is specifically adapted in body and especially bill size and palate structure for most efficient feeding on one species of ‘key conifer,’ which produces good cone crops somewhere in its range every year . . .” Breeding can be initiated anytime between mid-December to early September, wherever suitable cone crops are found. On this continent, populations range from southern Alaska, across Canada into New England, through the Rockies into Mexico and Central America, and also along portions of the Appalachians. The unique crossing of bills enables this and White-winged Crossbill to pry seeds from cones. Unlike White-winged, Red Crossbill shows considerable geographic variation in body size and in the size and shape of the bill. Nomadic movements within and beyond its normal haunts in the boreal forest are “driven by the variable nature of cone production over most of North America.” Irrupting birds have been found as far south as Florida. The species can be expected to decline wherever increased logging of old-growth forest occurs, as in the Pacific Northwest. (BNA 256: 1, 3, 7, 12, 15)
Local history
Fall/winter irruptions from northern coniferous forests are eagerly anticipated, but a long line of observers have commented on their highly unpredictable pattern. Eaton (1914), for example, said this species was “perhaps more erratic than the Pine grosbeak in its occurrence and more of a wanderer,” at times appearing drawn to the best pine, spruce and hemlock crops, at other times “seeming to be led along purely by its fancy.” He listed it as a rare, irregular visitor in Monroe County, and an occasional winter visitor in Wayne, with no indication of occurrence in Livingston. (Eaton II: 266, I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to 10 birds, with a maximum count of 26, on dates ranging from 22 October to 13 May. “Not reported every year,” he added. When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported only 15 times within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. Reports were scattered from the last of November through the first half of June, with average tallies of 10-20 in the first week of May. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B) Bull (1974) considered this the “most erratic and irregular of New York birds.” (Bull, p. 566) Beardslee and Mitchell concurred: “Not only are they entirely absent during some winters, but when they do occur they sometimes remain to nest. . . . They are partial to evergreens and should be looked for where cone crops are good.” (B&M, p. 427)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an irregular, fairly common vagrant winter visitant and an occasional, rare summer visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a sporadic rare to uncommon spring, fall and winter visitant.
Occurrence
Fall/winter: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 18 October to 16 January, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 26 October to 23 November. One on 21 September 1985 (R. Spahn) at Durand-Eastman Park was an earlier “first record for the fall migration.” (GOS, November 1985) Seen almost annually in recent years, primarily along the Lake Ontario shoreline, but often in small numbers. However, a large flight occurred during fall 1973.
Fall/winter maxima: 150 on 20 October 1973 (Genesee Ornithological Society hike) Hamlin Beach SP. (GNR) 60 on 22 October 1975 (J. and T. McNett) at Webster. (LG, November 1975) 68 on 25 October 1969 (Genesee Ornithological Society hike) at Hamlin. (GOS, December 1969) 125 on 2 November 1975 (Claffey, Steinhauser) at Hamlin Beach. (LG, December 1985) 500 on 27 October 1973 (Listman) at Carlton. (GNR) 50 on 19 November 1967 (Genesee Ornithological Society hike) at Durand-Eastman Park. (GNR) 45 on 25 November 1984 (Symonds et al) at Hamlin Beach SP. (LG, January 1985) 100 on 2 February 1972 (J. and T. McNett) at Webster. (GNR)
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 27 February to 13 June (1970), with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 26 March to 22 May.
Spring maxima: 30 on 14 March 1970 (Tetlows) at Webster Park. (GOS, May 1970) 100 on 29 March 1961 (Jones) at Fairport during a late winter-spring influx when counts of 10-20 were reported from three other locations. (KB11: 47) 25 max. on 10 May 1985 (Reinhardt, O’Hara) Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Rochester. (GOS, July/August 1985) 50 on 17 May 1970 (T. and J. McNett) at Irondequoit Bay. (GOS, July 1970) 12 on 1 June 1976 (R. Spahn) Brook Lea golf course. (KB 26: 216)
Summer/breeding status: Eaton (1914) cited a July sighting in Monroe County in 1903 and wrote that midsummer appearances had occurred elsewhere in the state, “especially in seasons of great forest fires in the North Woods.” (Eaton II: 266) Fred A. Swift of Webster came upon 15-20 in the middle of the road while driving along Drumm Road near a railroad crossing on 14 July 1969. “They didn’t seem to be about to fly to safety, so he stopped the car and got out,” John Brown reported. “At this point all took off but one bird which had apparently been hit by a car. It had a broken or injured wing and could not fly.”Swift took it home, correctly identified the bird and took it to Warren Lloyd, who confirmed the identification. “Wild at first, the injured bird settled down after a day or two, and readily ate sunflower seeds and cracked corn…” (BA, 24 July 1969; KB 19:216)Breeding may have occurred in Pittsford in 1970 when two females – one with a distinctively lighter plumage – showed up in June with offspring at a feeder on Overbrook Drive. Both had been part of a flock of 15 which first appeared at the feeder in February, and both apparently remained after most of the flock departed in May, John Brown reported. (BA, 18 June 1970) A second possible breeding record occurred when an immature showed up at Manitou Beach (Listman) in mid August 1972. (KB 22:170) During the first BBA project, possible breeding was recorded in a single block in or near Powder Mill Park. However, no evidence of breeding was recorded in the blocks assigned to our region during the second project. Summer maxima: 8 on 14 June 1973 (Spier) Webster. (KB 23:196) 15 on 14 July 1969 (Swift, Lloyd) Webster (see above). (KB 19:216) 4-40 on 12-27 August 1972 (Connors, Molyneauxs) at Canadice Lake, after another showed up at Braddock Bay (Listman) on the 12th. (KB 23:44)
White-winged Crossbill
Loxia leucoptera About two dozen of these unique winter finches were working their way down a row of spruce saplings in Greece on 4 March 1990, too intent on their busy feeding to pay any heed to this birder, who stood only 10 feet away. “There is a steady dry rustling sound as they work the cones; as I watch more closely I discover why. As they feed, they actually remove the smaller cones and hold them in place on a branch, then dip into them for the seeds.” (Marcotte diary entry)Mary Ann Sunderlin and Warren Lloyd had a similar experience with these birds at Hamlin Beach SP on 30 October 1977. The crossbills were feeding in stands of white pine, which had a good cone crop that year, and as they followed the birds “in their erratic movements” the two birders suddenly came upon a small ash with 25 of the crossbills scattered among its branches.“There were no seeds on the tree. All the crossbills were busily engaged in an activity which seemed to involve wiping or cleaning their bills. They paid no attention to our approach as we moved up to within 25 feet.“As we watched, each bird turned its head and wiped first one side of its crossed mandibles on one side of a pencil-sized twig and then the other side on the opposite side of the twig. They kept doing this for the 15 minutes we observed them, moving their heads back and forth, back and forth. The activity always involved alternating from one side of the bill to the other, rather than concentrating on one side for a period of time. Eventually a bird would fly off, but another would take its place.”Sunderlin surmised the crossbills were trying to remove the pine pitch from their bills, “as the cones we saw had a great deal of pitch on them.” In any event, with many of the birds at eye level in full sunshine, it was “a rare opportunity to observe these birds under optimum conditions.” (KB28: 94)In 1974, Earl Wallace of Stony Point Trail, Webster reported that about 40 were coming to his feeder. “They are so tame, he says, that they remain on the window feeder when he opens the window and snaps pictures of them from a foot or two away,” John Brown reported. (BA, 14 March 1974)These incidents illustrated how this unpredictable, irruptive species, scarce as it usually is in our region, can often be easily observed once located. White-winged Crossbill
Background
Conifer cones dictate not only the unique shape of the mandibles, but much of the behavior of this bird, which inhabits boreal forests from Alaska to Newfoundland and south into the central Rockies, upper Great Lakes and northeastern states, and also across northern Scandinavia to Siberia. Flocks wander nomadically in search of cone crops, and breeding can occur rapidly throughout the year, whenever food intake is sufficient to raise young. Large movements occur even within their year-round range in late October and November, coinciding with declines in seed availability, so occasional irruptions to the south “should be considered an amplification of these more frequent movements in search of food.” Less efficient in feeding on non-conifer seeds than other finches. Populations are extremely variable. Periodic cone failures and subsequent irruptions “undoubtedly cause tremendous mortality . . .but extraordinary ability to reproduce enables rapid increases.” (BNA 27: 1, 3, 5, 13)
Local history
Eaton (1910) considered this a rare winter visitor in Monroe County, with no indication of occurrence in Wayne or Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to 10 birds, with a maximum count of 75, on dates ranging from 13 November to 27 April. As with Red Crossbill, “not seen every year.”When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this species was reported only 28 times – nearly twice as often as Red Crossbill, however – from November through the first half of May, with average tallies reaching 10-20 in late December and early February. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)This species, like Red Crossbill, is highly erratic in its irruptions, and is primarily seen here as an irregular fall and spring transient and winter visitor. However, they occasionally are found in summer. Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an irregular, uncommon vagrant winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a sporadic uncommon to rare fall and winter visitant.
Occurrence Fall/winter: Something of the extremely erratic nature of their appearances can be gleaned from the bizarre of range dates over which this species appears. The Monroe County annotated list (1985), for example, indicated a range of arrival dates from 1 September to 18 March, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 13 November to 13 January! If anything, these birds are less frequent in their appearances here than Red Crossbills but occasionally outnumber them when they do appear. (Bull, p. 568) Some of the best tallies in fall occur along the lakeshore, where large flights of other irruptive species are usually found, especially at Hamlin Beach State Park and Durand Eastman Park where there are plenty of cone-bearing pines and other evergreens. Even when relatively large or numerous flocks arrive in fall, they may continue on, leaving no trace the rest of the winter. “Many winters pass without a single reporting of this beautifully colored seasonal visitor,” Alfred Starling observed in 1962. (WBR, 26 November 1962)
Fall/winter maxima: 30 on 19 October 1963 (Miller, Starling) at Durand-Eastman Park. (GNR) 150-200 on 30 October through November 1977 (mob) at Hamlin Beach SP. (KB 28:41) 40 on 5 November 1969 (Listman) at Carlton. (GOS, January 1970). 40 on 8, 23 November 1997 (G. Chapin, Sherony) Hamlin Beach. (LG, January 1998) 35 on 21 December 1986 (Bouton, D. Tetlow) at Greece. (LG, January 1987) 33 on 23 December 1961 (McKinney) Canadice Lake. (GNR) 40 max. on 1 January 1998 (D. Tetlow, Davids) several locations. (GOS, March 1998) Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 23 October to 15 May, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 19 January to 6 March. However, one on 25-26 May 1977 (J. and N. Dilley) at Brighton was even later. (GNR) “The most beautiful sight to be seen now in Highland Park is a flock of between seventy-five and one hundred white-winged crossbills feeding on seeds of the hemlocks; and as most of the cones are near the ends of the branches, these rosy-red and olive green birds stand out in striking contrast to the dark green of the hemlock needles,” Horsey and Edson reported in March 1931. “A large number in this flock are bright rosy-red, showing them to be males more than two years old.” (“Crossbills Reaping Annual Harvest of Hemlock Seeds,” D&C, 9 March 1931) Even when fall birds pass through the region, leaving little or no trace in winter, return flights are possible in spring.
Spring maxima: 75 to 100 during March 1931 at Highland Park (see above). 13 on 24 May 1998 (Marcotte) Badgerow Park was a good tally for a late date. (GOS, July/August 1998)
Summer: Late spring, early fall nomadic wanderers are possible. There have been no breeding records, but it is not inconceivable this could occur, especially in the higher elevation evergreen plantations to the south of Rochester.The “early appearance” of three on 28 August 1987 (Brooks, Symonds) at Manitou followed “their summer presence in the Adirondacks and from northern Wisconsin to Maine.” (GOS, October 1987)
Summer maxima: 6 on 2 June 1998 (Symonds) at Hamlin Beach, a very uncharacteristic date. (GOS, September 1998)
Misc.
John Brown enjoyed the opportunity to study the crossbills at Hamlin Beach SP in October 1977. He described a “clear, multi-hued” fall day, with the quiet “broken only by passing jets, distant Parkway traffic and the call notes of birds which would rise to a loud medley of metallic chirps and twittering when a flock of crossbills moved into cone-laden treetops overhead.“The geranium-red males with their black, white-barred wings were spectacular in the bright sunshine as they clung, mostly head-down, to the pine cones, extracting seeds with their curious, specially-adapted crossed mandibles.” (BA, 2 November 1977)Eaton considered this species to be “more active and uneasy than the Red crossbill, and also more shy and suspicious, usually keeping near the tops of tall trees when feeding . . . They seemed to fly frequently from one tree to another, wheeling about in the air and keeping up a rather loud chattering cry . . .” (Eaton II: 269) And yet, veteran birder Howard Miller in November 1954 decided to see just how close he could get to a white-winged crossbill. “His experiment ended with the bird in his hand,” Brown reported. (BA, 18 November 1954)
Pine Siskin
Spinus pinusformerly Carduelis pinusPine Siskin
A flock of these birds “pretty much took over the niger feeder” in Frank Dobson’s backyard for about a week during the spring of 1987. “Siskins may be small, but they sure hold their own. Besides squabbling over the same perch among themselves, they chased away just about any species that came near the feeder,” he recounted. Once in awhile the siskins would tolerate a goldfinch, but House Finches and House Sparrows were chased. The siskins still controlled the niger supply one mid-May morning. “Then, free seed or not, they were off on their journey.” (Birds, 31 May 1987)
Background
This unpredictable species inhabits coniferous and mixed forests from Alaska, across Canada, into the upper Great Lakes region and New England, and also south through the western U.S. into Mexico. However, its reliance on seed crops means its “reproductive schedule and attachment to a particular breeding area” are “less rigidly fixed” than in other songbirds, notes William R. Dawson in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. Irrupting birds may be abundant in a location one year, absent the next; sometimes members of irrupting flocks may linger on a favorable wintering ground long enough to breed, often in loose colonies. BBA data suggests declining numbers, especially in the west. However, perhaps because of increased planting of conifers, and an increase in bird feeding, this species has expanded its potential breeding range. Beginning in the 1950s, for example, this species began to stage regular, more extensive invasions in the Midwest, and in the 1970s was first confirmed breeding in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. (BNA 280: 1-3)
Local history
“The pine siskin is the one winter finch that can be depended upon to make an appearance here each winter,” Alfred Starling wrote in 1962. (WBR, 22 October 1962) That was not always the case. Eaton (1910) listed these birds as only occasional transients in Monroe County or occasional winter visitors in Wayne, also occurring in Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of two to 25 birds, with a maximum count of 200, on dates ranging from 21 September to 25 May. When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this was the “winter finch” most frequently encountered, recorded 194 times within a 50-mile radius of Rochester from October through the first half of June. Seventy-four reports were in October and November; 39 in January and February, and average tallies of 30-50 birds were not unusual. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B) “After thirty years of expanded winter feeding operations in the northern states, Pine Siskins . . . probably are now migratory rather than irruptive,” the Little Gull suggested in November 1983.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common to common spring and fall transient; an irregular, rare summer resident and a regular, fairly common winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular fairly common to rare winter visitant, an irregular uncommon spring and fall transient and an occasional rare summer resident/visitant.
Occurrence
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 10 September to 31 October, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 7 to 19 October. Subsequently, one on 30 August 1986 (Griffith) at Manitou was an earlier “first of fall.” (GOS, October 1986) In most years had departed by 28 November, with a late departure date of 8 December.In 1955 there was a particularly large flight of goldfinches and pine siskins on 29 October, flying east parallel with the lake at Charlotte, John Brown reported. “The flights continued for two or three hours into mid-morning. On the basis of five-minute counts, it was estimated that more than 1,320 birds of these species passed every hour.” (BA, 3 November 1955) Many of the best tallies are along the lakeshore, where other finch movements tend to occur.
Fall maxima: 1,000+ on 10 October 1971 (M. and T. Tetlow) at Sodus. (GOS, December 1971) 800 on 12 October 1969 (A. and B. Kemnitzer) at Sodus Bluff. (GOS, December 1969) 750 on 20 October 1965 (Doherty) at Sodus Bay. (GOS, December 1965) 750 on 11 November 1960 (Listman et al) along the west lakeshore. (KB10: 182) 550 on 11 November 1986 at Manitou. (KB 37:36) Winter: “Every year a few of these little finches are seen here, but it is an unusual winter when they are abundant,” Edson reported in 1959. (WBR, 9 November 1959) The winter of 1987-1988 was one such year. Bob McKinney banded more than 500 siskins in his yard near Ellison Park that season (Birds, 8 May 1988) and large numbers of migrants were tallied that spring (see spring maxima below). During the winter of 1959-60 they were “uncommon.” However, the following winter “they were common until mid-December. They decreased in numbers until February when they again became common.” (KB 11: 47)
Winter maxima: 350 on 3 December 1972 (M. and T. Tetlow) east lakeshore. (GOS, February 1973) 125 on 21 February 1961 (Kemnitzer) Pellett Road Woods, Webster. (KB 11:47) 150 on 21 February 1985 (Symonds) Hamlin Beach SP. (LG, April 1985) Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 21 February to 4 April, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 7 to 21 March. In most years had departed by 24 May, with a late departure date of 31 May (1975).Strong flights of irrupting siskins returning north can occur in spring. Note, for example, the maxima for 1988 and 1990 below.
500 on 29 March 2004 (T. Smart) Braddock Bay. (GOS, July 2004) 1,000 on 26 April 1990 (Listman) at Point Breeze. (LG, May 1990) 5,000+ on 23 May 1990 (Nicoletti) by Braddock Bay. (GOS, July/August 1990) 4,000 on 11 May 1988 (Nicoletti) Braddock Bay. (GOS, July 1988) 1,000 in four hours on 12 May 1978 (R. Dobson) Braddock Bay. (KB 28:172) 2,000 on 12 May 1988 (Nicoletti) Braddock Bay. (GOS, July 1988) Summer/breeding status: Birds sometimes linger into summer after large movements occur in spring. As many as 11, for example, were at Irondequoit all June 1978 (M. Ehlers) after a large flight that spring (GNR), with another reported on 25 July 1978 at Webster. (GNR)Other mid-summer records include one on 8-11 July 1979 (Reister) at Braddock Bay (KB 29:217), one on 8 July 1990 (D. and D. Traver) at Webster (LG, August 1990), ones on 17 and 25 July 2000 (W. and M. Thompson, O’Hara) at Greece and Manitou (GNR) and two on 15 July 2001 (Symonds) at Hamlin Beach. (LG, September 2001)Occasionally, nesting is documented.Bull (1974) said the siskin was “little known as a breeder in the state and, if possible, even more erratic and unpredictable in its time of nesting than (Red Crossbill)” . . . in part because these “notorious wanderers” were present only during years when cone crops are plentiful. “Breeding is most likely to occur following southward irruptions the preceding fall,” he added. (Bull, p. 564)For example, the first Monroe County breeding record occurred in 1961 – after a large irruption the previous winter – when a pair set up housekeeping in the yard of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Brown of 122 Ellington Road, Irondequoit. “Three nearly grown young are still in the nest which is located nine or ten feet up in a balsam fir,” Brown reported. (BA, May 1961; KB 11:102) The first BBA confirmed breeding in five blocks in Monroe County, with another cluster of possible or probable breeding in the higher elevations of southern Ontario County. For example, in 1981 a pair feeding young was observed at a feeder maintained by Jack and Joyce Connor of Bennington Green Lane opposite Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. They reported as many as 14 all during July that year ((BA, 23 July 1981; LG, August 1981) Six were at the Lakeshore Golf Club (R. Spahn) on 13 July 1982. (GOS, September 1982)A young bird was at Manitou (O’Hara) in July 1988 (GOS, August/September 1988), and three (adult with young) were reported there (O’Hara) from 1-21 July 1990. Individual birds were also seen at Point Breeze and Webster that month. (GOS, September 1990; KB 40: 249)However, reflecting the erratic nature of this species’ nesting presence here, breeding was not confirmed in any of the blocks assigned to our region during the second BBA project, and evidence of probable breeding was observed in only a single block at Braddock Bay.
Summer maxima: 50 on 1-30 June 1985 (B. and M. Baker) at Naples, considered “very high” since few had been seen that spring. (KB 35: 266; GOS, July/August 1985)
American Goldfinch
(formerly Eastern Goldfinch, Common Goldfinch)Spinus tristisformerly Carduelis tristisAmerican Goldfinch
“A bird in the bushes never looks like its pictures in the birdie books.” Ogden Nash
To Birds Afield columnist John Brown, Nash could only have been referring to American Goldfinches. Winter goldfinches, that is. Of all the winter feeder birds, the drab plumaged goldfinches were the ones that most often mystified feeder watchers. “For the drab-looking little greenish-yellowish birds with the white wing marks bear little resemblance to the brilliant, sulphur yellow individual with black wings that is the summer male Goldfinch.” (BA, 23 January 1969)This can result in all kinds of interesting – but erroneous – reports of out-of-season sightings. “We’ve recently had reports of Yellow-throated vireos and Pine warblers feeding on Niger seed,” Brown noted in January 1976. “These can only be Goldfinches which now wear only traces of their summer yellow. . . As the feeding of Niger seed becomes more widespread, the confusion about Goldfinches should diminish,” he added hopefully, “for the expensive little imported seeds are the Goldfinches’ favorite fare.” (BA, 28 January 1976)By spring, all confusion is erased in a blaze of color.
Background
This colorful, “canary-like” songster is an abundant breeder in weedy fields, river flood plains, early second-growth forest, orchards and suburban gardens across most of southern Canada south through the northern two thirds of the United States. The spring molt that transforms males from their drab winter to resplendent breeding plumage is unique among cardueline finches. This species is one of the latest breeders of all temperate zone passerines, normally waiting to nest until late June or early July. “Although the cause of this is not well understood,” notes Alex Middleton in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America series, “there is a close relationship between the flowering of thistles, an important food plant, and the start of nest building. In addition, the physiological effects of spring molt may prohibit early nesting.” Given the short nesting period, as many as 15 percent of females abandon their first brood to their mate, then leave to find another mate and attempt a second brood. Many birds migrate. BBS data suggest populations are declining in east, stable in west. This species benefited from European settlement of America and is probably much more abundant now than in the past. (BNA 80: 1, 2, 9, 15-16)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as an abundant summer resident in Monroe County, occasionally remaining as a resident year round, and a common summer resident in Wayne and Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of 20 to 40 birds, with a maximum count of 300. “Breeds in Summer, erratic in flocks in winter,” he added.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this species was reported 888 times, primarily spring through fall, but there were also 32 records during January and the first half of February. Average tallies of 30-50 birds were recorded in mid May, and 70-100 the first half of November. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)In 1953, Tanghe considered this an abundant breeding species in the Rochester area, specifically mentioning the Burroughs-Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and Summerville as nesting location. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a common to very common permanent resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular common winter visitant, spring and fall transient, and summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 28th with 147 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima: 500 on 28 March 1971 (Perrigos et al) at Groveland. (GNR) 1,000 on 11 May 1959 (Listman) at Manitou. (KB9:80) 2000 on 18 May 1963 (Listman) migrating past Braddock Bay. (KB13: 161) 500 on 18 May 1966 (Listman) migrating at Braddock Bay. (KB 16:159) Summer/breeding status: “The song of the Goldfinch, heard late in June and through the months of July and August, is sometimes uttered from a perch, but more usually while the bird flies around in broad circles with fluttering wings, pouring forth a torrent of canarylike warbling which sometimes approaches in beauty the song of the Purple finch,” Eaton observed. (Eaton II: 277-278) “Per-chick-a-pee . . . per-chick-a-pee,” is one way of paraphrasing its distinctive flight call. John Lehr, summing up a joint RBA/GOS field trip in May 1995, described how the goldfinches “approached us like vendors in the ball park shouting ‘potato chips’!” (LG, June/July 1995)This colorful songster usually waits until the last week of June to begin nesting, later than all other songbirds except Cedar Waxwing, so it can use thistle silk for nests and late summer ripening of seeds to feed its young. A pair was still feeding young on 2 October 1992, for example. (GOS, December 1992)Indeed, even when birding activity “sinks to a low ebb” during the “sultry, sticky days of August,” when Blue Jays and Cardinals look “moth-eaten and disheveled,” the American Goldfinch still looks as “pert, neat and unruffled as ever,” Brown noted. (BA, 16 August 1978) Prefers open areas, hedgerows, and wood margins. Nesting was confirmed or probable in almost every block during both Breeding Bird Atlas projects.
Fall: In 1955 there was a particularly large flight of goldfinches and pine siskins on 29 October, flying east parallel with the lake at Charlotte, Brown reported. “The flights continued for two or three hours into mid-morning. On the basis of five-minute counts, it was estimated that more than 1,320 birds of these species passed every hour.” (BA, 3 November 1955)Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 20th with 421 birds taken from the nets.
Fall maxima: 500 on 17 October 1991 (C. Cass et al) in one field on the east side of Letchworth SP. (GOS, December 1991). 1200 on 24 October 1954 (Bieber) at Braddock Bay. (GOS, September-October 1954). 500 on 4 November 1976 (Reister, J. Skelly) at Hamlin. (KB27: 37) 2000 on 7 November 1985 (Brooks, Symonds) at Braddock Bay. (LG, December 1985)
Winter: Startling transformation of males from brilliant yellow and black in summer to drab olive in winter confounds many feeder watchers. Winter numbers fluctuate.
Winter maxima: 4,000 on 9 February 1964 (Listman) at Retsof was considered a “very high” number for a species whose maximum winter numbers did not usually exceed several hundred. (KB 14: 100; Bull, p. 563)
Fall maxima: 500 on 17 October 1991 (C. Cass et al) in one field on the east side of Letchworth SP. (GOS, December 1991). 1200 on 24 October 1954 (Bieber) at Braddock Bay. (GOS, September-October 1954). 500 on 4 November 1976 (Reister, J. Skelly) at Hamlin. (KB27: 37) 2000 on 7 November 1985 (Brooks, Symonds) at Braddock Bay. (LG, December 1985)
Winter: Startling transformation of males from brilliant yellow and black in summer to drab olive in winter confounds many feeder watchers. Winter numbers fluctuate.
Winter maxima: 4,000 on 9 February 1964 (Listman) at Retsof was considered a “very high” number for a species whose maximum winter numbers did not usually exceed several hundred. (KB 14: 100; Bull, p. 563)
Misc.
One December day Frank Dobson watched a half-dozen goldfinches take turns chasing each other off the niger feeder in his yard. “Why is it, with six perches, they always seem to want the same one? A goldfinch can be feeding peacefully, when almost invariably another will come barreling in, drive it off and take over the perch.” (Birds, 19 December 1982)
One December day Frank Dobson watched a half-dozen goldfinches take turns chasing each other off the niger feeder in his yard. “Why is it, with six perches, they always seem to want the same one? A goldfinch can be feeding peacefully, when almost invariably another will come barreling in, drive it off and take over the perch.” (Birds, 19 December 1982)
European Goldfinch
Carduelis carduelisEuropean Goldfinch
“An interesting find was the European Goldfinch discovered in back of Aquinas by Walter Corcoran and a friend,” the Goshawk reported for March 1953. “It was observed by many people over a period of several days. It seems probable that this bird is an escaped caged bird and therefore, although the record will be kept, it cannot be included in the total list.” (GOS, March/April 1953)Indeed, Edson noted, “the bird seen by the boys seems to be one which escaped from its owner, on Locust St. Mar. 12, about 10 blocks from where it was observed. It certainly seems too bad that a desirable bird like this was unable to make the grade and the pestiferous starlings and house sparrows adapted themselves, so successfully, to this country.” (WBR, 23 March 1953)
Background
Attempts to introduce this species in the United States, starting on Long Island in 1878, failed. “Occasional reports from these areas or elsewhere . . . probably are based on birds escaped from captivity.” (AL, p. 58)
Local history
Edson reported seeing one of these birds on 28 April 1927 in the larches at Highland Park, after it was called to his attention. Horsey also lists this sighting. There had been no further records until the 1953 bird, Edson noted. (WBR, 23 March 1953) An interesting cluster of sightings were: one on 23 November 1976 (Lillard) at Penfield (LG, December 1976), one all February 1978 (T. Brown) at Chili Center (GNR) and one 18-21 April 1978 (Miner) at Pittsford. (GNR)The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated six reports, with the caveat they were probably escapees. (AL, p. 58) Belma Cerosaletti returned from birding on 3 May 1992, looked out her kitchen window and found one in her yard. (LG, May 1992)
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