Winter finches

(Re-posted from The Nature of Things.)

We call them winter finches. They are little songbirds that spend their summers in the boreal forests of Canada and north woods of the United States and then move southward to spend winters. Some of them make it all the way to the Gulf Coast.

The movements of winter finches, like the movements of most birds, are related to finding food. In years when there is a heavy crop of seeds, nuts, and berries in the north, relatively few of the little birds travel very far to the south. It is not the cold of winter that they flee. It is lack of food. As long as they have a sufficient supply of food they can survive the cold.

When the food crops fail or are less than normal, the lower 48 states can expect to see irruptions of birds such as Common and Hoary Redpolls, Evening Grosbeaks, Purple Finches, and Pine Siskins, as well as some of their fellow travelers like Red-breasted Nuthatches and Bohemian Waxwings. Those are very good years for birders throughout the country.

Now, of all these winter finches and irruptive passerines, the only ones that occasionally make it as far south as my backyard in winter are Purple Finches, Pine Siskins and Red-breasted Nuthatches. The last couple of winters in particular have been good ones for these visitors.

 A Pine Siskin that lingered into spring in my yard this year.

I look forward to those Pine Siskin winters. They are fun birds to have in the yard. But the forecast indicates that I probably won't be seeing them this winter. It seems that there has been a bumper crop of food sources in the north and that will probably keep the birds up there.

Oh, well, thank goodness for American Goldfinches. That's one "winter finch" that we can depend on to visit and how they do brighten our dullest season.

An American Goldfinch in April of this year is beginning to change into its breeding colors.

Wordless Wednesday: Pine Warbler

Feeder activity picks up

With the coming of the Pine Siskins and the increase in the number of American Goldfinches, the feeders have suddenly become very busy places.

One of the record number of Yellow-rumped Warblers in the yard this winter waits on a blueberry bush limb for an opening at the nearby feeder.

When the noisy Blue Jay arrives everybody gives way.

Northern Cardinals and sparrows like this White-throated often feed together on the ground under the feeders.

Of course, the House Sparrows are always a part of the mix.

The cardinal's favorite seed is the black-oil sunflower.

A goldfinch awaits its turn at the feeder.

The clown of the backyard, the Red-bellied Woodpecker, seems determined to carry as much of the food as he can pack into that big bill!

The juvenile male Rufous Hummingbird prepares to sip from the sugar water feeder.

Striped Pine Siskins and a few goldfinches share the platform feeder.

A brightly colored Pine Warbler shares the feeder with a female cardinal.

I love watching the acrobatics of the tiny Downy Woodpeckers at the suet feeders. They do love their suet!

When the boss of the backyard, the Northern Mockingbird, shows up, everybody scatters!

I hope to spend a lot of time watching the birds in my yard this weekend in order to increase the numbers that I'm able to report to Project FeederWatch. This is the time of the season when the activity in the yard really picks up and things get very interesting.

The waxwings are here!

I was in my backyard checking on my little fish pond yesterday afternoon when I heard a very welcome sound emanating from my neighbor's big pecan tree on the far side of her yard away from me. Zeee, zeee, zeee came the familiar sound of a well-loved winter bird. I looked up to see the outlines of their bodies against the sky.

Cedar Waxwings, those dapper birds of winter days, had arrived just ahead of a cold front.

I always look forward to the coming of the waxwings and mark it as the real beginning of winter in my yard. In some years, it is nearer the New Year before they first appear, but this year they've come before Christmas, a real Christmas present for this birder, and even though it was almost 80 degrees in my yard yesterday, I thought, yes, it really is time for winter.

(These are some pictures of the birds from previous years.)

Whenever they appear, these beautiful birds always bring a smile to my face.

Frosted birds

We had our first light frost last night. The temperature got down to 32 degrees F. and it is still quite chilly outside today and expected to get back down to freezing tonight.

It's hardly like trying to survive a heavy winter storm, but the colder weather does put a bit of extra stress on the birds. Those of us who provide feeders for them need to make sure that those feeders are well-stocked, so that our backyard birds don't have to wander far afield looking for food. This benefits both the birds who visit our yards and the birds in the woods and fields that don't have to compete with "our" birds for food.

Remember, too, that more and more hummingbirds are sticking around in our area through the winter and we can help them by keeping those sugar water feeders clean and full. The little birds eat a lot of insects as well, especially at this time of year, but as the weather gets colder, fewer insects will be available and fewer flowers will be available, so it is important to keep those feeders up.

I found the little female Rufous today sitting on an exposed branch taking in some rays from the sun. Her feathers were all fluffed up against the cold. Rufous Hummingbirds are much more tolerant of cold than many of our hummingbirds. That's why when we see one in winter it is most often a Rufous.

Don't forget, also, the importance of water. Sometimes we forget that the birds need water in winter, too. I just looked out my study window and saw an Eastern Phoebe at my front yard birdbath and frequently these days I see American Crows using the bath as well. The point being that even those birds that are not necessarily feeder birds will make use of the birdbaths and other water sources that we provide in our yards.

They're here!

I've been expecting to see Red-breasted Nuthatches here ever since we got back from our trip out west. I've had a couple of tantalizing glimpses and heard a call which I was certain was one of the birds. But I haven't been able to absolutely confirm the presence of the little birds in my yard. Until today.

There he is! The Red-breasted Nuthatch. They dart in and out so fast that I was lucky to get this one shot. Now that I know for sure they are here, I'll be looking for a chance for a better image. I'm just glad to know that we'll have these entertaining little guys with us this winter.

Now, where are my goldfinches and siskins?