This could be the best winter in years for Tennessee bird
watchers to see northern finches at bird feeders. Northern
finches nest mainly in Canadian forests where they feed almost
exclusively in fruiting and cone-bearing trees. As long as there
are plenty of small tree seeds, most of these finches remain in
the North in winter. Their migration is influenced more by food
than by weather. This fall in parts of eastern Canada, following
a drought, many berries are hard and dry. There's also a
shortage of tree seeds, including seeds in cones, in parts of
eastern Canada and New England. The food shortage is sending
northern finches scrambling on erratic migrations in search of
seeds. As finches irrupt out of northern forests many are flying
south. Northern finches that sometimes winter in Tennessee in
irruption years include purple finch, red crossbill, white-
winged crossbill (rare), common redpoll (extremely rare), pine
siskin, and evening grosbeak. Other irruptive finches — pine
grosbeak and hoary redpoll — don'