“Bird” is both a noun and a verb. We bird to see birds.
I’ve decided that “finch” should also be a noun and verb. Finching is a specialized subset of birding, requiring its own unique mix of acquired knowledge and skills.
Finches are a family of birds with heavy bills designed to crunch seeds. Some species also eat fruit in the winter, and all species dine on bugs and caterpillars in summer.
Nine finch species might be findable in Maine at this time of year. They include three small species: redpoll, pine siskin and American goldfinch. Four species are slightly larger: red crossbill, white-winged crossbill, purple finch and house finch. Pine grosbeak and evening grosbeak are the largest finches we normally see.
Most of these finches nest in Maine. Only the redpoll doesn’t. The pine grosbeak once did, and probably still does in the higher elevations of Baxter State Park, but they are now rarely seen in summer.
Finches disperse into breeding territories in spring, then gather into flocks by autumn. Flocks can be enormous, and they really liven up a cold February morning. Finches roam to wherever the best food is. When resources are meager in Canada, they swarm into the Maine forest, as many are doing this winter. Therefore, a-finching I will go.
Finches share several quirks, and knowing their habits is useful in finding them. Here are some tricks.
Gravel. Finches swallow grit to help their gizzards digest all those hard seeds. You’ll often find them in the road first thing in the morning, picking up gravel. When dirt roads are covered with snow, turning traffic is likely to churn up sand, making intersections one of the best places to look.
Roadsides. Besides gravel, roadsides offer a lot of food choices for finches. Brush, saplings and immature trees along cleared shoulders are typically rich in cones, seeds and catkins. Finches don’t disappear into the forest in winter. They’re right out in the open, there on the edges, where they can be seen from a passing car.
Food. While finches eat a wide variety of foods in winter, each species has preferences. Pine grosbeaks seek out berries and buds, especially crabapples and ornamental berries. Evening grosbeaks also enjoy fruit, though not so much in suburbia. However, their big bills can handle big seeds, so they gorge themselves at feeders.
Crossbills dine primarily on cones, and each species has a preference. White-winged crossbills are particularly fond of black spruce cones. Red crossbills prefer the cones of red spruce, pine and tamarack.
Among the small finches, expect to find redpolls on the catkins of birches and aspens. Pine siskins are more likely to be found munching the small cones atop some conifers. American goldfinches are drawn to grasses and weed seeds.
The first clue to finding a finch is to find finch food, especially along sections of roads that feature variable habitat.
Sound. Finches are wicked noisy. I usually hear them long before I see them. They sing from treetops. They call when flying over. It may take a little while to learn their vocalizations, but once you master that skill, you can expect finches to identify themselves without much work on your part.
Small finches have small calls. American goldfinches call “potato chip.” Pine siskins call something that sounds like PEE-you or peanut. Redpolls call a quick CHIT-chit.
Crossbills do double-jips. The jip-jip of a red crossbill is much sharper than the nasal jeet-jeet of a white-winged crossbill. Purple finches do single jips. House finches do nasal jeeps. However, both may repeat their single jips fast enough to sound like double or triple jips. Don’t worry, though. With practice, you’ll quickly be able to tell the difference.
Pishing. It’s a noise birders can make by pursing their lips and imitating an irritated chickadee: pish-pish-pish. When flocks of finches are in a distant tree or flying overhead, pishing will often bring them in to investigate. Redpolls are particularly curious.
Penobscot Valley Audubon put all this into practice last Sunday, when 22 members toured the County Road in Milford. We got good looks at red crossbills, a few goldfinches, siskins and redpolls, and the best looks ever at two cooperative barred owls. Then we were off to see evening grosbeaks at a feeder in Orono and a handful of pine grosbeaks at the Littlefield Gardens on the University of Maine campus.
By the way, this is not the only birding adventure planned by Maine Audubon this winter. Membership has its privileges.