[wisb] Fwd: [mou-net] Red Crossbill invasion- Duluth
- From: Jesse Ellis <calocitta8@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:29:18 -0500
Hey all-
I thought I would forward this on - some of these birds must be entering
Wisconsin, but I haven't seen reports of late. Anyone?
Jesse Ellis
Madison, WI
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Karl Bardon <karl_bardon@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 11:13 PM
Subject: [mou-net] Red Crossbill invasion- Duluth
To: MOU-NET@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thousands of Red Crossbills have been moving through Duluth in an
unprecedented invasion. I began counting migrant raptors and non-raptors in
Duluth (for Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory) on August 14th, and have now
counted a total of 3748 Red Crossbills! This irruption is unusual not just
in overall numbers, but also in timing, since most previous high counts of
Red Crossbills in Minnesota have been in late fall and winter. Previous
high counts include 215 at Hawk Ridge on 22 October 1988 (Nicoletti, The
Loon 71:100), 205 at the Lakewood pumping station in Duluth on 12 October
1994 (Eckert, The Loon 67:47-49 ), 125 in Cook County on 13 January 1968
(Scherer, The Loon 40:47), and 106 on the Isabella CBC on 1 January 2006.
By comparison, high counts this season have been 365 on 18 August, 603 on
23 August, 1252 on 24 August, and 705 on 25 August. I didn?t think Red
Crossbill counts like this were even possible in Minnesota! Prior to this
season, my counts
at Hawk Ridge/Lester River (during the last five seasons) have averaged
only 179 birds, with a peak of only 56. For the most part, the Red
Crossbills this August have been moving through in very large flocks, with
up to 160 birds in one flock. For example, the 1252 birds recorded on 24
August included only 23 flocks (with an average flock size of 54). The
majority of these birds appear to favor moving directly along the shore of
Lake Superior (as counted from the Lester River condo count site) as
opposed to higher up on the ridge (including several simultaneous morning
counts from the Hawk Ridge main overlook count site). Some of these
crossbills have landed to feed on the spruce cones in the Lakeside
neighborhood, where I have seen them to be a small-billed type, perhaps
type 3, but for the most part the vast majority of these birds have just
continued south without stopping. Where did all these crossbills come from,
where are they going, and why are
they moving?
Karl Bardon
Duluth, MN
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--
Jesse Ellis
Post-doctoral Researcher
Dept. of Zoology
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, Dane Co, WI
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