[wisb] Re: FBMP Crossbills and their food crop and Dicksissles: Ozaukee Co.
- From: "Tom Wood" <tcwood729@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <Wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:31:51 -0500
The numbers of crossbills reported by Jeff Bahls would seem to eliminate the
possibility of local breeders. I used to hike both units of the Kettle
Moraine Forest where there are a lot of conifers, and on one occasion I
felt a pair was breeding in the North Kettle Moraine. One summer I ran
across a sizeable flock near Eagle, but it was transient and I never
suspected breeding there. Breeding may occur in the southern part of the
state, but not regularly and in very few numbers.
If Todd has identified the Forest Beach flock correctly as type 3, the link
he supplied advises us that the range of that type is to the north of
us, so a south to north migration would seem unlikely. Breeding areas south
of Wisconsin ,per range maps, are indicated in the Rockies and Appalachians,
and it would be more efficient for those birds to roam in mountain areas
where conifers are plentiful .This is probably a case of a food shortage in
their northern breeding range, and the response for this nomadic species is
to wander until food is found.
Thomas Wood,Menomonee Falls,Waukesha County
-----Original Message-----
From: wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Todd Wilson
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2012 8:43 PM
To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [wisb] Re: FBMP Crossbills and their food crop and Dicksissles:
Ozaukee Co.
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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