Winter Rosy-Finch Study
This class requires advanced registration to ensure appropriate planning for the field experience. Participants must register by 5pm on the day prior to the outing.
Join us for a chance to observe rosy-finches as they flock to a local feeder in Snowmass Village. The brown-capped rosy finch is endemic to the Southern Rockies where it inhabits the highest peaks, nesting in rocky crevices in crags on summits and high ridges. In winter these special birds gather into flocks to forage for seeds on wind-blown ridges, snow-free roadsides, south-facing slopes, and sometimes at seed feeders in the high mountain valleys. Gray-crowned and black rosy-finches often join local flocks of brown-capped rosy-finches in winter, migrating from their Pacific coastal mountain and Great Basin breeding ranges to this area. Life history, conservation, and species/family context information will be shared. Late winter can be one of the best times to observe these special birds when they come to local feeders. Based on their fairly reliable patterns, we are hopeful that the rosy-finches continue to visit this feeder location on the morning of our outing. Other finch species, chickadees, woodpeckers, and corvids may also be present.
Please dress in warm layers as we will be outside, observing from a large deck at a private home. Warm winter boots, winter outerwear with cozy layers, buff, warm hat, and warm gloves are recommended. Bring your binoculars and bird book (optional). ACES will also have binoculars available to lend.
Meet at the Town Park Station (Rec. Center) parking lot in Snowmass Village at 7:50 am. We will carpool to the outing location and observe birds there for a period of time based on bird activity and weather. We may also visit an additional location in the area.
Interested in joining ACES Bird Club? Click here to find out more info!
About the Instructor:
Rebecca Weiss is a Naturalist specializing in birding, botany, and interpretive program development. She first came to ACES as a Summer Naturalist in 1993, later directed the Naturalist Field School and worked with ACES’ Naturalist Programs. She currently guides for ACES’ Birding Program outings and is involved with the center’s interpretive and custom programs. Rebecca is also a professional writer, developing trailside natural history interpretive signs in the Roaring Fork Valley and elsewhere in Colorado, as well as other writing projects. Rebecca is the author of Birds of Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley. She holds a BS in Biology and an MA in Environmental Education, and loves exploring the natural world with her husband, Austin, and their children Anders and Elsie.
Photo credit: Tom Benson