Hi everyone On December 30th 2008 I observed a flock of about 60 White Winged crossbills 4 km west of Port Rowan on regional road 42. They appeared to be feeding on the buds of deciduous trees on both sides of the road. Possibly some kind of alder? On a return visit on January 1st they were in the same area feeding on the cones of spruce trees on the north side of the road. I believe these to be Norwegian Spruce. The spruce were about 20 to 25 feet high. Cones littered the area under the trees. Many of the birds were picking up grit off the road as I watched them. They were fairly tame and responded to pishing. Unfortunately about 20 had been hit by cars. I was able to collect 12 good specimens, 7 male and 5 female which I will give to Mark Peck. I estimated the flock to be 200 to 250 individuals. In the hand they were much bigger than I expected at around 25 grams. Many regions in Ontario set records for precipitation in 2008 which has produced abundant wild fruit and cone crops. Do White winged crossbills come south to take advantage of this abundance or is it because of a lack of cones in the north and it is only a coincidence that Southern Ontario has an abundant cone crop this year? I would suggest it is the latter. Bill Read www.oebs.ca _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
