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Winged Reminders
Issue: 2015/12 - December | Photograph By: Ed Boos, Photographer
During the winter months our resident avian friends – the Titmice, Dark-Eyed Juncos, and Carolina Chickadees that live around and amongst us – become more easily seen and appreciated. With branches bare from the fall, they are more visible in the trees. If you have a bird feeder they become frequent visitors. Suet attracts woodpeckers of all sorts; sunflower seeds draw a large variety of other grateful diners.
Like people, some of whom are seasonal and some permanent residents, some birds come or go in the winter months and others just stay and brave the weather. The many varieties of Warblers and our numerous Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds migrate south for the winter, some following the flyways to destinations in the Caribbean and South America. Some northern birds who summer in Canada and Alaska migrate only as far south as Western North Carolina. Pine Siskins fall into this category.
Winter residents of the Highlands Plateau include over 40 species. Some of the most common have already been mentioned. Others include Wild Turkey, Mourning Dove, Blue Jays, American Crow, White-Breasted and Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebirds, Song Sparrow, Purple Finch and American Goldfinch, and Eastern Towhee. Some waterfowl also winter in our area – Mallard, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Canada Geese and other similar species. Mirror Lake near Highlands is a good place to sight some of these colorful and highly visible birds.
Our feathered neighbors are more visible in the winter but less likely to be heard. Without the ongoing mating and nesting activities that characterize the spring and summer months, there is less need to defend territory or woo through song the females of the species. There is also less of a need to associate only with one’s own kind; winter flocks tend to be collections of mixed species of birds.
Happy winter bird watching from the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society!
The Highlands Plateau Audubon Society, focused on enjoying and preserving birds and their habitats, is a Chapter of the National Audubon Society and a 501(c) (3) organization. For information on all our activities and membership, please visit highlandsaudubonsociety.org.
