Bird irruption underway!! Don’t miss these red-breasted cuties
By Bob Confer, Follow Exploring the Western NY Wilds of Facebook
If I was asked to make a short list of my favorite birds the red-breasted nuthatch would be on it. Not only are the birds cute and friendly, but their songs transport my thoughts and memories to vacations and weekends on their home turf, be it the seemingly endless coniferous forests of northern Canada or the tracts of hemlocks, pines, and spruces found in certain locales of Allegany County.
You see, this nuthatch, unlike its very common and very familiar cousin the white-breasted nuthatch, is not especially common in Western New York and especially where I live on the lake plains. Red-breasted nuthatches have an affinity for cone-bearing trees in great numbers. Those are forests of the north, or, here in Western New York, atop some of the higher peaks near the Pennsylvania border or in the woodlands of Allegany County that were planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression (which the NYSDEC has been cutting down in recent years).
For the most part, they are a hard find until winter when migrants visit our feeders. Even then, their numbers are light.
This feeding season, though, is already shaping up to be different… a lot different.
Occasionally, various species of birds from Canada that would otherwise stay there make their way to the States to stay the fall and winter due to food shortages, massive hatches, or horrid weather back home. This is called an irruption.
Well, this is an irruption year for sure for these little mites.
A few weeks ago, they started appearing in every nook and cranny of Western New York. I have two that now frequent my feeders in rural Gasport in Niagara County. I heard dozens of them in Allegany County last weekend, down in the valleys and up high. Also, I have seen irruption reports all across the northern half of the United States. An invasion is truly underway!
Take the time to admire these birds. As mentioned earlier, they’re cute. They are a fifth to a third smaller and much sleeker than white-breasted nuthatches and a lot more attractive, which is saying a lot because white-breasted nuthatches are pretty birds to begin with. Red-breasts are 4 ½” long, sporting a blue-grey back, a black cap, a black line through their eye, and many are brushed with a chestnut or red on their grey-white breasts.
Coming out of their beaks is a tinny, nasal call, that is itself cute — it sounds like a small toy horn.
Their feeding style is unique. Like other nuthatches and quite unlike woodpeckers and flickers they climb trees downward rather than upward. You have to admire their upside down climbing technique. They do this while looking for insects (finding food the upward climbing woodpeckers might miss from their point of view) or cramming seeds under pieces of loose bark or in crevices which they then use as leverage so they can pry them open – which is where their name came from (nuthack in olde English).
What forced them from Canada’s boreal forests and brought them here? During any irruption, it is typically one of two things.
One, there could have been a shortage of seeds all year, so they ran out early.
Two, there were actually so many pine, spruce, and fir cones early in the season that the red-breasted nuthatch parents overproduced offspring in response to the bounty and the nourishment they were given and the grown “baby boomers” ate all of them out of house and home to the point of running out.
The first option seems to be the answer this year. Reports indicate that the cone crops have been very light in the eastern boreal forests.
For whatever reason, they’re here. And, it’s something to celebrate and see up close.
If you have some in your yard, feed them sunflower seeds…and go out to your feeding station often. They will let you walk right up to them and, with a little patience, they will even eat out of your hand. Most other bird species won’t oblige, but these ones do, maybe because they are like all Canadians — friendly.
Bob Confer is the founder of “Exploring the Western New York Wilds,” and an avid Western New York naturalist. You can contact him anytime, Bob@ConferPlastics.com
Bob will be a featured speaker at this years Ridgewalk & Run and as part of his continued sponsorship of the event Bob is holding a little contest for this years participants! Check it out:
Attention Ridgewalk & Run participants:
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS AFTER THE TRAIL, BE ENTERED IN A CONTEST
On the trail of the 33rd Annual RidgeWalk & Run you will discover many things about the natural world and maybe even some things about yourself.
Following the event, we will be looking for your reflection about Ridgewalk – maybe it’s an observation about the hills and forests, perhaps it’s an appreciation for the volunteers and landowners, it could be a close encounter with an animal, or it might be some self-discovery as you completed one of the hikes or runs.
At the post walk/run party (the finish line), we ask that you please take a few minutes and write down your reflection on a sheet that will be provided to you.
Your thoughts will be shared with the organizers, volunteers, and property owners…to show them why we all do what we do. And, we might share your comments on social media or our website…to show others why they, too, should take part in Ridgewalk.
By doing so, you’ll also be entered in a special contest.
We will randomly draw five winners from all entrants:
2 winners get a copy of Reader’s Digest’s North American Wildlife, the ultimate field guide to hundreds of plants and animals
2 winners will receive a bench made by Confer Plastics, Inc., right here in WNY
The grand prize winner will receive a bistro table set — a table and four stools — from Confer Plastics
