Marian Harman
In this winter of our COVID discontent, we have something exciting to look for at our feeders. According to the National Audubon website, this winter is “one of the biggest irruption years of boreal birds in recent memory.”
As you have no doubt noticed, conifers have “mast” years when cones are plentiful and other years when they produce very few cones. Conifers’ primary predators are squirrels and it is thought that these irregular cycles of lean years keep the population of squirrels in control.
When cone crops are meager in Canada, as they are this winter, many squirrels will not survive the winter. But birds that rely on conifer seeds for winter food can fly south in search of food.