Western Massachusetts birding, 1958: ‘Unusual species’ reported

birding-march-17-1958 I ran across this article — from the March 17, 1958 edition of the Springfield Morning Union — by pure luck while working on a project at work this week.

While the Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, and Carolina Wren are now commonly seen year-round residents here, in the 1950s sightings of these species made headlines.

“Ornithologists find it difficult to explain the number of birds wandering so far north this past winter,” the newspaper noted. “Some speculate the migration might mean the establishment of native southern birds in New England.”

Regarding the Carolina Wren, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology notes: “In fact, the Carolina Wren has been pushing northward with rising average winter temperatures over the past century or so.”

Cornell also mentions the range expansion of the Tufted Titmouse, offering explanations that include a warmer climate, reforestation of farmlands, and the popularity of bird feeders. Cardinals, too, may be responding to human activity: “The expansion of people and their backyards over the last two centuries has been good for cardinals,” Cornell explains.

Other formerly southern birds like the Northern Mockingbird have also become New England mainstays, and here in Holyoke they’re even a more common sight than Cardinals and Carolina Wrens.

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