Puffed up Black Capped Chickadee

1.  Get puffy.   When birds puff up their feathers it provides an extra layer of insulation to help keep out the cold.

Ruffed Grouse soaking up the last sun of the day

2.   Sunbathe.    On really cold sunny days birds will find a sheltered spot out of the wind and sit and sun themselves, soaking up as much warmth as they can.

Barred Owl sunning itself

One way to find birds is to look on the sunny side of stands of evergreens.   I have found hawks, owls, and all kinds of songbirds this way.

Female Evening Grosbeak pigging out

3.   Eat!    It takes a lot of food energy for birds to keep themselves warm.   But if birds find a reliable food source, they can even put on a layer of extra fat.

Ring Necked Pheasant

During particularly tough winters birds may go outside of their normal ranges to find food.

Bohemian Waxwings

Having some native shrubs and vines planted around the yard will help birds that are looking for berries and fruit.

Blue Jay getting ready to carry away as much food as it can.

4.   Cache food.   Some birds don’t just eat at the feeders.   They load up on food, then take it away and cache it.

Nuthatches cache food too

That way if food is hard to come by, these birds can use their stores of cached food.

Wild turkeys- taken with a remote trail camera

5.  Find a flock.    There are many advantages for birds when they hang out in groups.   They can find food together.  There are more eyes to look out for potential predators.

Common Redpolls

Little birds will even roost together at night in a hole in a tree, or a bird house.   They snuggle together and keep each other warm until the morning.  Can you imagine finding a little roost of birds like this?   Sooo cute!

No, not in here.

Perhaps they would not like to use this birdhouse, however, since there is a Screech owl inside.   Which leads us to another way that birds can survive the winter:

6.   Find a “Bird Feeder”

Coopers Hawk surveys the offerings in my garden

Like it or not, busy bird feeders also become the hunting grounds for birds of prey like this Coopers Hawk, who will make visits to bird feeding areas to grab a bite to eat.   Literally.   The first thing I saw the other morning when I looked out the window was a Sharp Shinned Hawk scooping up a Junco for breakfast.

It’s winter

Birds have a number of adaptations that allow them to survive even the harshest, coldest, iciest conditions.     Another reason I think they are absolutely amazing.

The post How Do Birds Survive the Winter? appeared first on Leslie Abram Photography.

Whoah! Look at all those seeds!

I usually hear them before I see them. The Evening Grosbeaks are back!

It is really special when these beautiful birds from the northern forests decide to pay us a visit.   In the 17 years we have lived in our house, they have come about 6 different winters.   In fact, the first winter we lived here was when we saw them for the first time.  I had no idea what they were!

Party on the back deck

The only thing predictable about Evening Grosbeaks is that they are unpredictable.   They live in the northern forests, as well as at high altitudes throughout North America.  In the summertime, Evening Grosbeaks eat insects and fruit as well as seeds.   One of the main insects in their diet is the spruce budworm- a very destructive pest.    In the winter they come to feeders like ours when their winter food source in the north- cones and seeds- is running low.

Eat up!

So if Evening Grosbeaks come to call- look out!  A feeding frenzy will ensue.   They love to eat sunflower seeds.   Lots of them.   And they come in big flocks.   We have had flocks of up to 40 individuals some winters.   This year I have counted 18 to 20 birds in the flock that frequents our feeders.  Their favourite feeding station is, in fact, our deck railing, where they can all land and feed together.

Is it something I said?

Evening Grosbeaks are members of the finch family.   Their beaks are very large (“grosbeak”) and powerful, which allows them to crack large seeds. The name Evening Grosbeak apparently comes from the fact that when they were first discovered, they were singing in the evening.   They don’t just sing in the evening, but that’s ok.  Listen to the call of the Evening Grosbeak on this bird sound webpage.

Female Evening Grosbeak

The female Evening Grosbeaks are mostly grey, with some yellow, black, and white on their wings.    At our house, the females are always the first ones to come down to the feeders.

Male Evening Grosbeak

The male Evening Grosbeaks are yellow, black, and white.   They have quite an impressive black head with a yellow visor over their eyes.   When my kids were little they used to call these “motorcycle guys.”   Both males and females have large yellowish beaks.   When breeding season comes their beaks turn the most incredible lime green colour.   That’s one way of knowing spring is coming.

Lunch with the girls

Like I said in my previous blog on Winter Bird Feeding, if you set the table, you never know who might show up.    I think we see these beautiful birds at our house because we have a really busy feeding area with lots of food.   When we run out, I go buy more.  The birds have me well trained.    It’s worth it!

Reference:

All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The post The Gang’s All Here – Evening Grosbeaks appeared first on Leslie Abram Photography.