Birds in Winter

The other day I was surprised to see a flock of about 20 American Robins feeding on the hairy red fruits of  the Staghorn Sumac that was growing behind our shopping center. Because the fruits are dry, have little flesh, no fat or sugar they are usually left untouched until late winter. In spring and summer we are used to seeing them foraging on the ground, running, then suddenly stopping to listen and pouncing to extract an earthworm. In the winter when the ground is frozen they switch to fruit on the ground or still hanging in the trees. 

The Robins we see here in the winter probably probably started their fall  in Canada and found the Northeast temperate enough to stay through the winter, whereas those that summer with us have shifted southward. So these are probably the same Robins we see in early spring when the snow is receding,  in transient large flocks foraging among the old grasses and leaves in our backyards and fields.

Many birds that are solitary during the breeding season often flock together in winter, when food sources are rare and much more sporadic. Even through the bounty must be shared with a larger number it still pays off to have more eyes scouting for them.

Snow Buntings are highly territorial in the summer, jealously defending their nesting sites in the tundra, but during the winter they often travel in mixed flocks with Horned Larks. They are most easily found along plowed roadsides where they forage for grass seeds and grains.

Snow Buntings crossing a paved road

Flock of foraging Snow Buntings and Horned Larks

Male Horned Larks

Both the Horned Larks and Snow Buntings roost in scrapes in the ground or burrow into the snow for extra protection against the cold. During a storm they may let themselves be snowed in. 

In the winter Northern Shrikes, like this first year juvenile, migrate south from their home in the tiga/tundra to southern Canada and the northern United States where prey may be more available.  Sitting high in a tall tree they look innocuous, watching and scouting for any small movement in the trees or on the ground, when they are down in a flash to grab a bird or small mammal, revealing their true nature and justifying their Latin name Lanius excubitor "Butcher Bird".

House Sparrow puffed up against the cold trying to keep warm.

Bohemian Waxwings are true  nomads, roaming in flocks  and descending when finding berry or fruit bearing trees. They are voracious eaters and only leave when all the fruits have been consumed. They are so unpredictable that It's always a special thrill to see them. 

They cheer me up with their jaunty masks and feathered caps, the red wax tips on their wings and the red untertail coverts. Here they are feeding on fruit fallen off a crap apple tree. 

Their rakish looks make me smile.

Homely looking Wild Turkeys foraging on a manure pile in a snowy field.

I first saw this Common Raven on the flat roof of parking garage. It then flew across the parking lot and landed on a  mound of snow at the edge of the lot where I followed it in my car. I was able to take a couple more photos before it flew off heading east into the morning sky.

Happy Birding in 2013!

The Bluebird of Hope and Happiness

The other day I was watching a mixed Eastern Bluebird/House Sparrow flock in the trees along the West River in Brattleboro, VT. They flew off in all directions just as I was getting my camera ready. I didn't get a good picture of a male Bluebird, just got a fleeting look at one in the thicket, but a female obligingly perched on a shrub along the road for a photo shoot. 

Compared to the modest attire of the female, the male looks over-the-top extravagant. I pulled these photos from my archive:

The Bluebird  is beloved by many because of its gentleness and sweet song. In many cultures it is thought of as a symbol of hope and happiness. Some Native American tribes considered it sacred. It is often featured in songs and tales. So, it's an appropriate symbol for the Christmas season when we are reminded to be charitable to the neediest and lowliest among us. Looking at the bird world I would include the lowly and despised House Sparrow (HOSP), but how wrong I was! The HOSP is an aggressive and deadly competitor for nesting sites. It probably contributed to the decline of the Eastern Bluebird population after its introduction in 1851. 

"don't know any Bluebird hosts who enjoy killing anything, including HOSP, but the two species are on a head on collision course and there is so much proof that the HOSP will win (and by that I mean kill) your Bluebirds eventually."
- Dave Kinneer, Bluebirding Forum, 2008

From the North American Bluebird Society FAQ

"Q: I came out to check my babies, and found several of them dead and strewn out on the ground. Others were still in the box, but looked like they had been battered on the head and eyes. HELP!"

A: House Sparrows, which are exotic pest species, will enter a box and peck the occupants to death. Clean out the box and either take steps to either eliminate the sparrows or move the box to a more suitable location. House Sparrows are found only around human dwellings, in cities and around farm buildings. To minimize competition from this aggressive predator and competitor, place your boxes where sparrows are not likely to be a problem. Please see our House Sparrow Control page for more sparrow management techniques"

So the Bluebird may well consider the House Sparrow a devilish competitor.

We are reminded this time of the year to give generously to charitable organisations. Along with mail order catalogs our mail box is stuffed with requests for money. It seems whenever we donate to an organization it soon comes back asking for more.  And this is not just my impression. Here is a link to an article in the NY Times.  Bill and I make a list every year and in general stick to it. The Charity Navigator is an invaluable source to help with the selection.

Good news on the home front: 

According to an article in the NY Times Vermont is rebounding quickly from Hurricane Irene. Now all we need is lots and lots of top soil to replace what the flood has washed away and we also badly need snow to attract skiers to support our local economy.

And Happy Birding in 2012!

Old World Sparrows

It's a hard time of the year for birding. The woods, fields and meadows are mostly quiet except for the occasional cawing of crows. The other day walking along the CT River I heard the bright calls of a Winter Wren coming from a dense leafless thicket by the shore I searched for it and saw it suddenly pop out on a branch looking right at me as if to say "Well here I am. Where is your camera?" It was a life bird for me but stupidly I had left my  camera at home. 

Having just returned from Germany I decided to do a post on two species of old world sparrows, the lowly and despised House Sparrow, and the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. .

Most of you may be familiar with the misguided introduction into this country of the House Sparrow  by European settlers in the 19th century. Here is a nice summary:  

Only at the insistence of man did the House Sparrow make its way across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States. In 1850, green inch-worms were destroying trees in New York City's Central Park. Many people thought that the House Sparrow's main diet back in England consisted of these same green worms and that if sparrows were brought to New York City they would solve the worm problem in Central Park. Others thought the House Sparrow would eliminate crop pests. While others theorized that the House Sparrow would eat grain out of horse manure (which was becoming a bigger problem as the city grew and the number of horses on the city's streets increased), which would help the manure decompose more rapidly. In addition, the new wave of immigrants who were forced out of Europe in the late 1850's because of economic and agricultural failures, missed the little birds they were accustomed to seeing in their native Europe. Steve Eno (Blue Birds across Nebraska)

A quick look at the bird's beak would convince any birder that its main diet is grains and seeds, not worms or other insect, which it feeds only to its young.  Due to its ubiquitous presence you'd think that the House Sparrow is the most common bird in Europe. Not true. In Great Britain it's in 4th place behind wren, chaffinch, robin and black bird.  Also it has actually been declining by 60% in urban environments,  such as London's city center where now it's almost absent. It's been placed on the red list

The Eurasian Tree Sparrow was less successful after its 19th century introduction in St Louis to enhance the local avifauna. Today it's mostly found in extreme eastern Missouri, west-central Illinois, and southeastern Iowa

I took these photos in the back of my grandfather's farm (now run by my cousin) in northern Germany. There the two species were strictly divided: House Sparrows in the ivy on the gable-side of the house and Tree Sparrows in the trees in back of the farm yard. 

Here is a side view of the old farm. My dad, age five or six,  is sitting on the horse. It's the same type of horse I learned to ride on when vacationing there in the summer. It is sad to think the people in this photo are all gone, my grandfather holding the horse that my father is sitting on, and my grandmother with my aunts, as well as a couple of other relatives that I don't recognize. That window over the door opened to a tiny guest room with two beds and a dresser, my room during my vacation. The thatched roof has been replaced with corrugated metal and the building turned into a stable and barn.

Back then....

Today....

I was just reading that John Vanderpoel of BigYear2011 started his search for the Eurasian Tree Sparrow from the Super 8 motel in Coralville, Iowa. I know that area well having spent ten years as student in Iowa City which lies directly on the other side of the Iowa River. But that was long before I did anything more than casual birdwatching.

I am ending this post on a nostalgic note. Tempus fugit. Memento mori. Time flies. Remember we must die.





Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment. Cheers!

Does singing make birds feel happy?

Yesterday afternoon after the rain stopped I went for a walk in the woods. Along the path I was surrounded by the Ovenbird's emphatic "teacher, teacher, teacher". This was late into the breeding season when most of the other warblers were quietly foraging for food for their offspring.

Birds do look happy when they sing.

We know that birds live on a very tight energy budget. No wasted motions. Everything has to have a purpose for furthering survival and procreation, and  this holds true for emotions also. We sense a bird's anxiety when a predator approaches a nest or the anger when for example the Robin in my backyard  keeps chasing a Blue Jay through the trees away from her nest. But a feeling of happiness? Is it a luxury? Or a reward for a  behavior that serves a purpose in promoting survival?  Birds sing to attract mates or defend their territory.  But does the act of singing cause the bird to feel pleasure, or put in another way, does it make the bird feel happy?

Several years ago I observed a Mockingbird perched on a tall post singing his heart out. While singing he would  jump up, flap his wings and rise up several feet, drop back down, and do so again and again - a picture of pure exuberance!  He seemed to be jumping for joy - so much happiness! That this was part of part of the male's courtship display did not diminish it.

I unearthed an interesting study addressing the question of happiness. Any pleasurable action in animals, mammals as well as birds, is associated with a release of dopamine in the brain. A study of Zebra Finches has shown that singing increases dopamine release, but only while courting a female. Undirected singing does not.  So a male bird  that sings incessantly to keep out competing males is probably more likely to have an elevated level of the cortisol, not dopamine, and feels stress rather than pleasure.

Happy Birding!

Thanks for visiting. Please leave a comment.

Midwinter Waxwings and other birds

Another cold but bright day yesterday. I was walking around on the Putney School campus looking for the flock of Bohemian Waxwings that had been reported there earlier in the week. At one point I saw a flock of about 20 birds flying past and knew they were Bohemians, not just by their undulating flight but also by their contact sounds, a soft constant rippling trill. They briefly settled on a tall tree near me and then were gone again, not to be seen again. A student pointed me to an apple tree where they had been spotted before. I only found a lone Winter Robin picking away at a frozen apple.

In the same neighborhood near a feeder I spotted this little bright-eyed house sparrow all puffed up against the cold.

Eventually I gave up and drove home. I consoled myself with going over photos of Bohemians I had taken two years earlier during an irruptive year. Now having software with better noise removal, less intrusive sharpening and better color rendition, I set about to rework the originals. The results are posted below.

This was a large group of Bohemians, some basking in the warm winter sun, others foraging in the crab apple trees or on the ground underneath.

On another occasion, when the sun was not as bright and colors more muted,  I saw a smaller flock in a row of crab apple trees.

I don't give up easily. I went back on the campus today. Walking was more treacherous as many of the walkways were iced over despite having been sanded. I had to take a picture of the fantastic icicles hanging from the roof of a cabin. 

Still no Bohemians, but found a small flock of Cedar Waxwings foraging in an apple tree.

 

 

Good Birding! Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment.

Related articles

• Weatherwatch: The unpredictable waxwing (guardian.co.uk)