Published: January 20, 2008 11:08 pm      

Unusual migration gives area birders a treat

Bird watchers across the region are getting a rare treat this winter, as an unusually large number of birds and raptors seldom seen as far south as Pennsylvania are showing up at bird feeders and in pine forests in Cambria and Somerset counties.

The often-colorful birds – many members of the general finch category – carry quaint names such as evening grosbeak, redpoll, Bohemian waxwing. Some of the unusual raptors include the northern saw-whet owl and the rough-legged hawk.

Backyard birders and aviary experts agree: It’s worth the effort of putting out a feeder and adding some seed to get a visit from these northern beauties.

Longtime birders estimate that as many as a dozen varieties of birds, including some owls and hawks normally living in the boreal area north of the U.S., are traveling south into Pennsylvania in search of food.

Natives of the northern spruce forests, the birds are being forced south because the cone and nut production in the northern reaches is down this year, said Robert Mulvihill, coordinator of the Field Ornithology Project at the Powdermill Nature Preserve near Ligonier, one of many sponsored by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Also adding to the high number of winged visitors is a highly successful year of breeding in 2007, which significantly increased the bird population.

“It’s a super eruption. This is just a significant migration,” Mulvihill said last week. “It’s unusual to get so many kinds. It’s truly a continent wide phenomenon.”

Dave Gobert, who lives a half-mile from Patton, an avid bird feeder and watcher for more than 20 years, thinks 2007-08 is a banner year. He agrees with Mulvihill’s assessment.

“It’s on a cycle. There’s a food shortage up north and, when there’s no food, it drives them farther south,” Gobert said. “They depend on seeds, hemlocks and spruce. And when there is a cone failure, they have to go look for it.”

The number and variety of unusual birds is so high it has bird watchers writing blogs and chatting on line, comparing notes over the telephone and keeping journals to log the latest sightings.

“We did have pine siskins, and they are usually much farther north,” said Janet Shaffer, a lifelong birder from Bedford County’s Cumberland Valley.



Gregg Doll, an avid bird feeder and photographer from northern Cambria County, had the common redpoll on his property in December.



The southern migration of unusual varieties is renewing enthusiasm in bird watching and is expected to add to the numbers participating in the annual Great Back Yard Bird Count in mid-February.

Thousands of birders throughout the U.S. and Canada will be watching out their windows and counting species.

The goal of the count is to develop a continent wide bird-distribution profile.

“Literally, there has never been a more detailed snapshot,” said John Fitzpatrick of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The 81,203 checklists submitted in the 2007 bird count reported more than 11 million birds and over 600 species.

Meanwhile, Mulvihill, Gobert, Shaffer and others continue to keep a sharp eye on their bird feeders.

“Winter bird watching can be pretty dull. But this makes it a lot more interesting,” Mulvihill said. “This is a significant migration, that’s what gets bird watchers all excited.”