Local birding report

For the birds that choose not to migrate south, maximizing calories ingested while minimizing calories spent is the formula for survival during the winter months. Prolonged periods of freezing temperatures, predation and shortages of food all contribute to the probability of birds making it through to springtime.

Not every bird seeks out a tree cavity to pass the long nights. During the cold months Golden-crowned Kinglets are likely to be seen travelling through our woodlands in small “courts” consisting of 3-6 birds. At night, these tiny birdlings typically huddle together deep within the branches of conifer trees. Last winter right before sundown I observed two kinglets disappear into a squirrel nest. Using each other as heat sources alleviates the need for kinglets to search for or return to a more suitable shelter come nightfall.

The Black-capped Chickadees’ feet keep from freezing by effectively transferring heat between outgoing and incoming veins, thus allowing for a continuous flow of blood while roosting or perching. At night chickadees seek shelter in tree crevices or unused cavities, dropping their internal temperature to reduce the rate of heat loss. Chickadees, like kinglets, also travel in groups, constantly foraging for food such as seeds and insects like frozen caterpillar and spider eggs which are hidden under leaves and bark. When one chickadee finds food, its mates quickly notice and join in.

Woodpeckers are the only birds that make themselves a shelter specifically for overnighting in the winter. A winter nesting cavity is used nightly and is almost always in a standing, dead or dying tree versus springtime nesting holes which are excavated within more solid wood. Interestingly, for the Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers their wintering holes are generally no more than six feet off the ground which is at least three times lower than their breeding season nesting cavities.

Unlike our migratory little House and Winter Wrens, the Carolina Wren will often spend the winter in the same territory it had previously nested in. Carolina Wrens living in Cape are towards the northern edge of their breeding range and are more susceptible to the perils of cold weather. For added safety and warmth, Carolina wrens forage and roost in pairs during winter months. When the wren’s summer nest is no longer available it will seek out former nests of other birds or dry places to roost like sheltered corners of decks, porches and barns.

Additionally, when Carolina Wrens sleep their fluffed-up feathers reveal luminous-looking white spots that are otherwise invisible during the day. Although no scientific conclusions have been made, the spots are thought to possibly be a unique camouflage allowing a roosting wren to resemble a pinecone.

In early January a few years ago I was pruning trees and shrubs in our backyard. I went to cut out a dead branch from an old Blueberry Bush and suddenly from the depths of this hollowed out snag sprang a Brown Creeper. I felt awful that I had disturbed this poor creature who now, at such a late hour, was forced to search for a new place to shelter. Ever since that day I have been more mindful about cutting down trees or shrubs for you never know who might depend on it for survival.

A couple additional mentionings from the field and yard include, on January 1 I heard the silvery tsee-ler winter feeding twitter call of an American Tree Sparrow in a neighbor’s field. And on January 3 I finally got around to retrieving and cleaning out the Great-crested Flycatcher Box that I have set up for the last three summers in a boggy area on my property. As the sun disappeared behind the trees my two-year-old son accompanied me down to where the box was located and he patiently watched me climb the ladder to retrieve the box. As I was making my way back down the ladder a Great-horned Owl hooted in the distance.

Great-crested Flycatchers consider shed snakeskin a desirable nesting material and I was hoping to find a piece to show my son. The nest had a very messy appearance to it and as we picked and poked our way through the debris we discovered a cup lined with twigs, leaf litter, bark fibers and bird feathers including turkey. There were also a few pebble sized pieces of what looked like plaster. Although we did not find any snakeskin in the nest box we did discover a treasure of a different sort, a totally intact, unhatched, frozen egg. A Great-crested Flycatcher’s eggs are pinkish-white and heavily marked with combinations of black lines and scratches colored in purple and lavender.

And lastly, on the afternoon of January 6 I heard the zree-e-e-e-e-eet call from a Pine Siskin somewhere high above my house in an Oak Tree. According to eBird, over the last thirty days and within a 10 mile radius of my location, there were a total of five other Pine Siskin reports, each consisting of only one or two birds. These very active little winter wanderers are similar in size and shape to that of a Goldfinch. According to the 2023-2024 Winter Finch Forecast we should see more Pine Siskins in Cape before the winter is through.