Day 41 of 100 Days of Blogging
Several species of birds breed in the Arctic regions, then venture southward during winter in search of food. A behaviour that provides us humans with an opportunity to possibly catch sight of them without having to travel to the end of the earth to do so! A number of finches dependent on conifer seed crops fall into this category, but seeing them varies from year to year depending on how seed crops fare. For those who are too impatient to wait till winter to find out if finches will indeed show up in their area, there’s the 2016-2017 Winter Finch forecast to keep you from having to remain in suspense!
The following 10 species are among those recorded as winter visitors on the PQSPB checklist.
#1. Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus ) French: Buse pattue
#2. Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus ) French: Harfang des neiges
#3. Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor) French: Pie-grièche grise
#4. Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) French: Jaseur boréal
#5. Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) French: Plectrophane des neiges
#6. American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea) French:Bruant hudsonien
Finches (Spoiler Alert – check the forecast for this season’s predictions)
#7. Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) French: Durbec des sapins
#8. White-winged Crossbills (Loxia leucoptera) French: Bec-croisé bifascié
#9. Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea) French: Sizerin flammé
#10. Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) French: Bec-croisé des sapins
