[wisb] Re: FBMP Crossbills and their food crop and Dicksissles: Ozaukee Co.
- From: Todd Wilson <maxpaul@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:43:17 -0500
Tom,
I was surprised to see them not in pine, since I had always been told to
look for red crossbills in pine trees previously (without luck I might
add). Based on the recordings I made this morning, these birds appear to
be type 3, the smallest crossbills in North America. According to Jeff
Groth at the American Museum of Natural History, type 3 crossbills "are
strongly associated with weak-coned conifers such as hemlock (/Tsuga/),
spruces (/Picea/), and larch (/Larix/)".
much useful crossbill info can be found on Jeff Groth's site:
http://research.amnh.org/vz/ornithology/crossbills/contents.html
Todd Wilson
Glendale
On 8/12/2012 8:30 PM, Thomas Schaefer wrote:
> Betsy- birds were foraging in White/Black Hill's Spruce and Norway Spruce-
> don't think there are any Balsams on the property. I was surprised to see
> them using the smaller-coned spruces as I figured RECRs favored larger coned
> species of pine and spruce. Perhaps they bred SOUTH of here and are now
> returning north, as Purple finches and Pine Siskins seem to do.
>
> Tom Schaefer
> Hartford
> Washington County
> On Aug 12, 2012, at 7:05 PM, betsyacorn@xxxxxxx wrote:
>
>
>> Had nice long looks at these voracious eaters today at Forest Beach, tho it
>> spurs many questions. They seemed to be foraging in Balsam Fir, which is a
>> very unusual species here in SE WI, tho far more common up north. I was
>> stunned at the cone crop which is truly mast-like this year, and wonder if
>> it is due to drought-induced stress as well as mild winter temps. I assume
>> that the balsam were planted here during the years this property was a golf
>> course, and am surprised at how well the dozen or so of them are doing in
>> this open location on the western part of the preserve. With close-up views
>> of the cone consumption, it seemed that the cones are viably full of seed,
>> with many still maturing.
>>
>> So, could one surmise that these trees were once visited in winter by one of
>> the adult crossbills who kept the gps location stored in his or her very
>> clever bird-brain for a time when the kids needed to eat?? It is a large
>> flock and must have a brilliant scout to have located what I imagine to be a
>> somewhat isolated crop of balsam fir cones this far south.
>>
>> Does anyone imagine that they overwintered this far south, bred, and raised
>> young in this lower latitude?
>>
>> Having (very regrettably) not gotten up north this summer, I wonder of the
>> cone crop production in balsam fir and the various northern spruces with
>> small cones there that crossbills favor. I believe the north had far more
>> normalized rainfall than we, though I don't know if the northern WI winter
>> was as mild as ours down here. Any northerners want to address this???
>>
>> Also, I was struck by how many dicksissle inhabit FBMP this year. Numerous
>> - I stopped conservatively counting at 15 - adults and juveniles flew around
>> me as I walked for an hour or more through this remarkable preserve. At one
>> point, and in one dead deciduous tree west of the fir, I had six different
>> species: Bluebird, Crossbill, Cedar Waxwing, Goldfinch, Field Sparrow and
>> Dicksissle. They were making a racket because four Kestrel had just flown
>> over and spooked the Red Tail. Hats off to you, Noel Cutright and
>> colleagues for spearheading the preservation and restoration of this
>> remarkable habitat.
>>
>> Betsy Abert
>> So. Milwaukee, but reporting from the Land of Oz.
>>
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