The Ontario FeederWatch cam welcomed a rare visitor to the feeders over the weekend: a female White-winged Crossbill. These aptly named finches of the boreal forest have two prominent white wing bars and heavily crossed bills, which they use to pry open the cones of tamarack and spruce. Sexes exhibit similar plumage differences as the Pine Grosbeak—females are yellowish and males are bright red—but they are much smaller and have shorter tails. Take a moment to compare the differences between the female White-winged Crossbill and the male Pine Grosbeak that's perched on the right of the platform at the beginning of this clip.
Watch online with highlight clips and information about the birds at [ Ссылка ]
Thanks to Perky-Pet for helping to make the Ontario FeederWatch Cam possible!
The FeederWatch cam is located in a residential neighborhood in Manitouwadge, Ontario. This northern site is an excellent location to see winter finches like redpolls and grosbeaks as well as two species of Jays and even Ruffed Grouse! The feeders sit in the middle of a large backyard with a large birch tree that the birds love, as well as a mixed stand of conifers and several fruit and berry producing shrubs. There’s a small swamp just beyond the backyard as well as larger stands of woods and a small lake.The feeder system is the product of the camera hosts’ ingenuity, making use of plastic piping to support the feeders high enough above ground to foil the occasional squirrel, and a rotating set of feeders that provide black oil sunflower seeds, nyjer seed, whole and shelled peanuts, and peanut butter suet in a homemade hanging log to the dozens of species that visit.
About the Hosts
Tammie and Ben Hache have been members of Project FeederWatch since 2002, meticulously counting their backyard birds to help better understand what birds are doing throughout the winter. The years of FeederWatching have brought amazing views to the Haches; some of the highlights included counts with over 200 Evening Grosbeaks seen at once, high counts of 20+ Hoary Redpolls, an extremely out-of-range White-winged Dove, and the constant buzzing of hummingbirds in the summer. A winter of bird feeding requires a lot of food, too—last year over 750 lb of sunflower seeds were consumed by the hungry birds!
About Project FeederWatch
Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the birds they see at their feeders from November through early April and send their counts to Project FeederWatch. FeederWatch data help scientists track broadscale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance. Anyone with an interest in birds can participate in Project FeederWatch! There are people of all skill levels and backgrounds conducting FeederWatch counts, including children, families, individuals, classrooms, retired persons, youth groups, nature centers, and bird clubs.
Learn more and sign up online at [ Ссылка ]
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