Winter birding is unpredictable--find out what birds you may see in Lake County this winter.
By John Pogacnik, Biologist
Winter birding is much different than birding other times of the year, but if you prepare for the weather and do some homework, it can be very rewarding. There are birds around in the winter that are often not seen any other time of the year. Such rarities as snowy owls, northern gulls and winter finches are just some of the birds that can be seen during the winter.
Winter birding is unpredictable because there are a lot of variables as to what birds may show up during a particular winter. Factors may include how the breeding season went and what kind of food crop is available here and where the birds come from. If there is little natural food here, birds will head elsewhere. Another big factor is weather. A mild winter may keep some northern birds from migrating south and a snowy winter brings birds to feeders but also sends many south. It is difficult to predict what the birding will be like for the upcoming winter, but there are some clues.
Naturally, weather plays a huge part in what waterbirds will appear in Lake County. If it is cold and the lake freezes, most ducks and gulls will head south looking for open water. If it is too mild, they may stay further north. The best times to check for waterbirds is early and late winter. Birds often congregate in open harbors like Fairport Harbor and may be viewed from shore. Lake Erie Bluffs is a good place to watch migrating waterfowl and gulls and as a bonus, you can watch from your car on cold windy days. While at Lake Erie Bluffs, watch overhead for gulls heading to and from the landfill. You can occasionally find uncommon ones like glaucous gull and Iceland gull. Once the lake freezes, watch for strong south winds that may open channels in the lake that may attract birds, especially in late winter when birds are migrating and are looking anywhere for open water.
Iceland gull
For many birders, the most anticipated winter visitors are western strays. Every year we get various birds that are typically found in the western part of the country that wander east. There are a number that can occur such as varied thrush, Townsend’s solitaire, mountain bluebird, rufous hummingbird, and even some real oddities such as painted redstart, gray-crowned rosyfinch, and western tanager have been found in Ohio. You never know what will show up from year to year, but it’s fun to keep your eyes on birdfeeders as most will occur at feeding stations. If you don’t have a feeder, come out to Penitentiary Glen Reservation and visit the feeders there.
It may seem odd to hear, but keep your hummingbird feeders up as long as you can. The feeders will not keep hummingbirds from migrating south, but rather provide a food source for wandering birds and birds in need of food. In recent years, we have seen a number of western hummingbirds in the winter, including rufous, Anna’s and Allen’s hummingbirds.
rufous hummingbird
Winter birding can be an exciting time of year with many good birds around. Whether you check the lake for ducks and gulls, watch feeders for winter finches and western strays, just get out and see what you can find. Who knows—it may help the winter go by faster.
Great shoreline parks where you can watch from your car on cold windy days:
common redpoll
Winter finches are very erratic and difficult to predict. Winter finches include hoary and common redpoll, pine siskin, purple finch, white-winged and red crossbills, evening grosbeak and pine grosbeak. All of them are very specialized as to what they feed on and if there food up north is low, they often head south. How do we know what will move from year to year? Some like redpolls, pine siskin, and purple finch are cyclical because their food is cyclical, meaning every other year is typically a poor crop. So they will move south every other winter, but whether they get down this far is dependent on where they can find food. If our food crop is low, they will go elsewhere.
snowy owl
Snowy owls are the iconic winter bird. They represent the Arctic and when they visit it’s like having the Arctic come to us. Snowy owls migrate south when they have had a good nesting season and many young are raised. Snowy owls are birds of the open tundra and if they do come south, they are best checked for in areas that resemble that type of very open habitat. The last few winters have seen large numbers of snowy owls in our area.