All,
The many recent va-bird reports of birds feeding in new locations,
unexpected locations, or at backyard feeders in unusually large numbers
are perfect illustrations of the food stress that birds find themselves
in after a widespread event like last weekend's snowstorm, and exactly
what you'd expect after such an extreme winter event. Many of their
food sources are covered and, not being stupid, the birds begin to move
around looking for any place that will provide materials useful to them
as food. Generally, they can physically deal with the tough weather so
long as they have adequate food. It is my belief that beginning to feed
now (by those who had not been feeding earlier) could provide
disproportionate benefit to seed-eating birds, even if it is
discontinued once the ground goes bare again (when the food sources are
uncovered again). This nonsense about once you start feeding you have
to continue it until green-up and bug-out in the spring because
otherwise lots of birds will starve to death does not give birds nearly
enough credit for the intelligence and adaptability they possess. Once
the ground and low food sources appear again the wild birds will move
back into them. In terms of bird-finding I might also note (I actually
studied this in the 1970s and have lots of information on it but did not
publish anything) that in agricultural areas, where vast areas of fields
are deeply covered with snow, the dairy barnyards, feedlots, hay-feeders
(as well as roadsides that have been plowed bare), etc. may attract and
hold most of the seed-eating birds in a large area, plus raptors
attracted to this food source. It can also be a great way to find many
of the rarities in an area because of this concentration. So long as I
was courteous and solicitous of how I could park and bird without
creating any problems for the farmer, I was never denied access to farms
for winter concentrated-bird birding in the barnyards and feedlots. I'd
tell them exactly what I was interested in doing and why and before I
left gave them any information (a list or whatever) they wanted to have
about what I'd found and who I was. If something remarkable (Lapland
Longspur, Snow Bunting, Dickcissel, etc.) turned up and I thought others
might like to see it(them), I'd tell the farmer (or his family member)
this and ask if such a thing was possible. Etc. If something rare
showed up they were often quite pleased about it (so long as they knew
that Fish and Wildlife Service wasn't going to show up, start talking
about Endangered Species, and tell them what they could and could not do
with their land; a number of them really were worried about things like
this). During other times of year, while I was driving around the state
I used to keep one eye open for barnyards and feedlots that I might be
able to return to after a sizeable snow. Two relative benefits for the
birds from this latest storm (more will come someday), by the way, is
that we did not get an extended period of high winds after the storm and
the temperatures during and after the storm were cold but in most places
not brutally so (low single digits to below zero). These extreme winter
events are capable of killing substantial numbers of birds (I have
records that support this statement), I think mostly because of
starvation and freezing to death (the two are actually somewhat
related). To show you how desperate food-stressed birds can get, I have
a record (made by Mike Britten from my car in western Louisa County) of
a Red-tailed Hawk attacking a Great Blue Heron and personal records of
American Crows killing, stripping, and eating Red-winged Blackbirds,
etc. It is fascinating but also pathetic to see.
I hope this information is useful.
John Bazuin
From: "MARC RIBAUDO" <moribaudo@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "VA-BIRD" <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 12/22/2009 02:46 PM
Subject: [Va-bird] backyard birds
As with a lot of other folks, backyard birding has really picked up
since the storm. We had 10 male cardinals in the yard at one time
during the storm. A brown thrasher has been a steady visitor to the
feeder, where it seems to like the suet. I put out a seed mix that
contains berries and fruit to provide a more varied diet. Other new
visitors are a pair of towhees, a fox sparrow, several red-winged
blackbirds, and a cowbird.
I visited Occoquan NWR this morning to see the pipits that were reported
by Ryan Kelley. I was not disappointed. About a dozen were feeding
along the edge of the entrance road. I was able to get pretty close to
them in the car, and enjoyed the best looks I have had of this bird in a
long time. I also saw a single tree sparrow and quite a few savannah
sparrows.
Marc Ribaudo
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