BIRDS OF THE ST. CROIX RIVER VALLEY 



163 



species of cool, moist, Lowland Coniferous Forest. Principal vegetation asso- 

 ciated with breeding habitat includes black spruce, tamarack, yellow birch, 

 and black ash. All purple finch nests that I have observed were associated 

 with this vegetation type. During migration, purple finches were also found 

 in deciduous habitats, primarily those having heavily seeded box elder. Win- 

 tering birds are usually found in black spruce habitat or near feeding 

 stations in residential areas. 



Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) 

 Status: Regular migrant and winter resident. 



Migration: Uncommon fall migrant (occasionally common) in the Northern 

 Highland, rare and irregular fall migrant (occasionally fairly common) in the 

 Central Plain and Western Upland. Less common in all regions during 

 spring migration, except after invasions. On 23 November 1946 pine gros- 

 beaks were already considered "numerous" at Grantsburg, Burnett County. 

 Fall migrants arrive in the Northern Highland 25 October to 15 November. 

 Peak fall migration occurs 15 November to 15 December. Spring migration 

 begins with a gradual northward exodus in late February. Peak spring 

 migration occurs 1-15 March and departure by 1 April (latest— 8 May 1974, 

 Polk County). 



Winter: Irregular winter resident except for the Northern Highland where 

 wintering pine grosbeaks are observed each year. Winter populations of this 

 bird are considered cyclic. The largest number recorded in the Valley was 

 436 on the Solon Springs CBC 17 December 1970. Christmas Bird Count 

 data (Table 4) provide supportive evidence of their relative abundance in the 

 various regions of the Valley. 



Habitat: Generally restricted to extensive stands of Lowland Coniferous 

 Forest and Jack Pine Barrens. During invasion years, pine grosbeaks use 

 Upland Deciduous Forest, especially if box elder and maple or sumac trees 

 are heavily laden with seeds. 



Gray-crowned Rosy Finch {Leucosticte tephrocotis) 

 Status: Accidental, one record. 



Record: Ludwig (1974) described the observation of a single gray-crowned 

 rosy finch in Pine County 27 March to 6 April 1974. This was the third 

 record of that species in Minnesota. 



Hoary Redpoll {Carduelis hornemanni) 

 Status: Irregular migrant and winter resident. 



Migration: During invasion years, a rare migrant in the Northern Highland 

 and Central Plain, casual in the Western Upland. There are too few spring 

 records to estabhsh patterns. Fall migrants usually arrive with the first 

 large flocks of common redpolls in late November (earhest— 3 November 



