Wintertime: So important for our bird friends

It’s easy to look outside and see birds on cold days and fear for their survival. The forests seem dark and deep, and eking out a living is surely a struggle. Rains may fall all night, fierce winds may whip through the woods with brutal force and bone-chilling nights make us feel for our feathered friends.

The truth is, wintertime is a true vacation for most North American birds. The spring and fall bird migration are nothing short of brutal during their winged migration, putting up with ever-changing wind directions, avoiding deadly tall buildings and TV towers, being on the lookout for various birds of prey, trying to find food in unfamiliar locations, water sources being contaminated, and a host of other problems.

Summer is hardly an oasis for birds, either. Males compete vigorously for territory and mates, then the pair from dawn till dusk are feeding chicks and protecting them. Brutal temperatures seem to worsen each year, and conditions seem to change faster than most birds can adapt. And just when the young ones have fledged, mom and dad have to molt and start their fall migration.

So all in all, winter is a real vacation for birds. Their plumage insulates them from the cold, which is very effective. Remember that there are tiny birds inside the Arctic Circle in Alaska that spend the winter there, with temps 50-60 degrees below zero! So the cold probably makes us a lot colder than it makes our neighborhood birds.

One very conspicuous bird in Randolph County is the diminutive Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a tiny greenish-gray insectivore we borrowed from Asia during the last ice age. They chatter constantly and jump around just over our heads, grabbing every tiny bug they spot. The male has a tiny crest above his white eyerings that observers seldom see.

Another common winter songbird is a Blue-headed Vireo, which may make the harshest sounds in southern woods. Like the kinglet, it has big, white eyerings, but its “blue” head

is really gray. Vireos have a tubular beak with a strong hook for yanking caterpillars out of crevices. In spring, they and kinglets begin to sing, filling the woods full of music.

Probably the most abundant songbird that winters in Alabama is the Yellow-rumped Warbler, an active feeder that’s brown with a bright yellow patch on its fanny. They have a thicker bill than insectivorous warblers that winter in the Tropics, so they can eat small, hard fruit and berries. They are often detected by their hollow chip, which keeps them in touch with other small birds in the area.

Perhaps our loveliest forest species throughout the winter is the Hermit Thrush. True to its name, it’s often seen solitarily, or heard with a soft chuck slipping through the woods. Its habit of flicking its reddish tail up when it calls is unique, often done during breaks from foraging. In mid spring, males begin their song before migrating, filling the early spring forest with one of the truly beautiful and musical collections in the bird world.

Many other northern visitors slip unobtrusively through our woods in winter, foraging and calling softly to each other. You should find some binoculars, take a slow walk and see what forest gems you can uncover.