Our recent Redpolls don't seem to have been associated with extreme cold. The one in Hohenwald several years ago was here in quite mild weather. Redpolls are extremely cold-hardy. I think it is food scarcity that pushes them south, not cold weather, and wild food crops throughout most of eastern North America this season were pretty good. I suspect this food crop probably also accounts for the scarcity of Purple Finches and Pine Siskins in Tennessee this year, and the late arrivals of most of the common winter sparrows.
Bill Pulliam Hohenwald TN
On Jan 4, 2014, at 11:20 AM, Michael Todd wrote: Bates,Let me first say I am speaking with nothing more than personal opinion on this subject......Since there has been a definite uptick in Common Redpolls across the state the last few years, it definitely wouldn't hurt to keep a close eye on feeders during the coming Arctic blast. But, I don't remember these birds having been directly tied to a major cold front coming thru; though my memory isn't what it used to be... It seems like a poor year to the north of us for Redpolls in the southern end of their regular winter range. I wouldn't think chances would be much better than normal for this species during this time, but hopefully we will get lucky! I don't remember the distribution of the historical records, though there weren't very many I don't think (don't have any reference handy here at work) Always a treat when we get one!Good Birding!! Mike Todd McKenzie, TN birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx www.pbase.com/mctodd From: Bates Estabrooks <wgpu@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: TN-Birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2014 8:01 AM Subject: [TN-Bird] Can we expect. . .?To avoid unnecessary expectations, I left the species name out of the Subject line.I was wandering whether or not we can expect Common Redpolls along with a cold snap like we're about to get? What experience do long- time TN birders have with these types of conditions?Thanks. Bates Estabrooks Anderson Cty.
