the modest birder (4) winter residents

Today (3/19/09) it's in the 40s and raining (not very hard and not enough to undo the near drought conditions of the last three months, but it's a good time to comment on the stirrings of Spring (when the thoughts of the young, etc. and the first species crocus as well as the snowdrops are in bloom) in the birds.

I always wonder what happens to our residents: are they among the wintering birds, for ex. the Carolina Chickadees of which there have been mostly only two all winter (though there may have been more for they did not come as a pair until 2 weeks ago and on the worst weather days there were sometimes 3 at once, that would come one after the other in quick succession and eat the seed they picked in a nearby tree)? There are still three Titmice, but 2 apparently are a pair as they tend to come together and on the same feeder; one has been doing its high flute notes for three weeks, though more frequently during the day of late. There is one pair of White-breasted Nuthatches and often one will pick up a large seed or a nut and give it to the other.

The residents that pose a clear problem are the Cardinals. Each year there are 2 breeding males around that sing at least one acre apart (and one has been singing across the road for 2 weeks, another sang also - 2 days ago - in the adjacent garden on the opposite side); during the winter, beginning in December there was first 1 female, the arrived another female and one male in January, eventually building up to usually 3 males and 2 females, though one week there were 3 of each and 2 days there were 5 females and 3 females. Now there are , it seems, 2 pairs and a 3d male that is rather faded, almost pink on a dark day. The males chase each other but sometimes the 2 red males go after the faded one. If there are 2 pairs, the partners rarely feed from the same feeder, nor do they sit on the same branch or even in the same tree, but they do arrive together and leave pretty close together (I have noticed that the male observes longer from the spruce before going to the feeder closest to the tree - rarely to another or to the seed on the ground, unless the feeders are empty - than the female who comes even to the feeder at the window). Obviously the greater number of Cardinals were not our residents, but were they from nearby, or from farther away; the latter most likely for I never saw 8 of them at one time near our feeders before. But I wonder whether the 2 pairs that are here now (3/18), were here all winter as they rarely were close together and most of the times one of the males chased any other Cardinal away. Furthermore I have often remarked in my diary that I did not see any Cardinal in October and November (I don't put any feeders until Dec. 1 and thus do not watch as frequently) and my wanderings at Higbee Beach in southern N.J. indicate that Cardinals migrate. It's frustrating to draw conclusions (too early?) for this morning (3/20) one male was feeding on the covered platform near the spruce while a female was (waiting?) in the spruce. Another female came to feed on the saucer under the window. Then another female arrived that chased the one in the tree into the neighbor's trees. The one on the saucer kept feeding. The feeding male flew off to return immediately being chased or chasing another male. The two chasing females returned also and for a moment 2 males and 2 females were chasing separately through the spruce, the males leaving for the creek and the females again into the neighbors trees. The female on the saucer left in the opposite direction. They are each, one hopes, less confused than I am. By 3/30 the two females are still chasing each other (probably one is the aggressor as she appears to reside near the creek) and the same goes for the 2 males. There are, I think, 2 pairs left, though 3 males countersing some mornings, but one comes from way across the field on the other side of the road. On April 2, a pair fed together on the same platform feeder (a first observation this spring).

Another question arose this winter when the resident pair of Carolina Wrens disappeared at the time of a snowfall that was followed by the coldest week. One wren appeared 3 weeks later but also promptly disappeared (none of the circles of feathers left by the Sharp-shin or Cooper's were of a wren). As of this writing (3/19) they have not returned. I remember having been surprised in past winters that (the?) wrens stayed around, even sang (though rarely) and fed on the feeders (espec. the suet) during snow in past winters. One came back on 3/22 and disappeared again.

The Housefinches, of which at least one pair breeds in our or a neighbour's garden, tend to be at the feeders in groups of 5 or more. When in February there were many Siskins there were only 3 finches most of the time and this week there are 4, one a full color male and one that is slowly coming into color. The others apparently are females. Only the mature male and one female appear to have become a pair, they arrive together and feed on the same feeder (mostly a platform and especially the saucer when it is "free." There are, however, several males that sing some mornings (like the Robins rather in a murmur than a clear and loud voice).

There are 2 Song Sparrows since the middle of February, one of which was there all winter (they may of course both have been there all winter, but I did not see them at the same time until February. They feed apart and hardly ever arrive together. Last year was the first time a pair bred in the tangles near the creek and this may be the pair. The male is not singing yet although I heard one singing loudly and fairly consistently for a half hour in N.J. last week.

This February and March we also had occasional visits of 1 Crackle, 2x1 Redwing Blackbird, 4 and 1 Rusty Blackbirds and 1x 6 Brownheaded Cowbirds (2 females). Among the birds one doesn't want to attract are Cowbirds, but one pair arrived last week and frequent the platform feeder near the spruce about every other day. To bad!!! (One male and 2 females are Spring residents in our woods. I tried to shoot them, but didn't even scare them away).

Do winter residents pair off before they leave and thus the present pairs may not be our summer residents? One example are the Starlings of which some 50 reside all winter on the adjacent farm and small groups roam the neighborhood during the day. We have mostly 5 or 6, rarely 20 (when I succeed in shooting one and that scares them off for a while). There is no sign of any pairing so far. (The first 2 years we were here and I had the gutters covered, several pairs sneaked in through the space at the ends and I scared them off by knocking the gutters with a brrrooomstick, this has not occurred for 2 years). On 2 April a starling was carrying off the dead vines of the nasturtiums, but the other 5-7 still in aggressive clusters on the (too small) suet basket. Neither is there any pairing among the Siskins of which 10 to 15 still appear every day at the feeders. Only three males are beginning to show yellow (first on the rump and then in the wings). I saw only one Siskin singing. The Juncos are also not pairing. Their number has been steady all winter at 20+ and is slowly declining. It seems that unlike other years, there have been only 5 juveniles or females among them. Some mornings 1 or 2 add their trill to the "humming" chorus. On 3/29 some juncos began to chase each other; their number is getting smaller and on April 2 one is singing more consistenly.

The Robins are a case apart. Most winters there are none, not even in the heart of the town where there is a pretty good supply of berry bearing trees and bushes, including some very beautiful holly trees. This winter there were about 20 in town and once in a while on a warm day some of them (once all) foraged in the vernal creek. But last week 2 pairs settled in and engage in territorial disputes, and on 3/19 4 males were singing around our place, one above the creek, one across the road, one in our neighbor's to the east and the other to the south. The 2 pairs are inspecting my junipers where last year they built five nests ( 2 others were in yews). Their breeding success was poor as I never saw more than 2 juveniles with an adult.

During the winter there were once in a while at least 4 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, but the last 2 weeks there was only a pair; they would mostly be on separate trees or branches and occasionally together near the suet, but not, so far, on the suet together. Usually the male fed first. 3 or 4 times the male actually chased a starling from the suet. On 3/22 a second male arrived and the 2 males chased each other upwards around the stem of the suet tree. The 2nd male has not been around since.

This year, I think there have been fewer White-throated Sparrows than in previous ones. A quick look at my diaries shows that the first one arrived in late December in spite of some severe frost to the North. At the most there were 7 on a snowy day but more usually there were 5 as today. Two of these are males in breeding plumage, 2 still look like fist Fall juveniles. They feed together, without any aggression towards each other and so far no pairs are distinguishable although frequently 3 are feeding so that there may be a pair down by the creek from where all of them tend to arrive. On 3/27 there was a pair feeding together (still on 3/30) and 5 joined them in the evening. On April 2, two pairs were feeding together separately and as one of a pair approached the other pair it was warned off. They came to feed during the day, while throughout the winter White-throats usually fed at dawn and dusk. At about 1.30, when I was taken a breather on the garden bench, there was a sudden song, high and clear, very much unlike the almost murmuring stuff of most birds as yet and it took me a while to find the songster, a White-throat. This was, I think, the first time I heard one sing since we moved in here. If it was to sound like "Old Sam Peabody, peabody, peabody," I must really be getting deaf as I heard nothing like "old sam," rather it burst open with "Peee-peee" followed by a rapid "pea-dy, pea-dy, pea-dy." There was a joyful rhythm in this happy surprise as it was a moment without cars going down the road, almost a rural silence.

In early March there was a male Bluebird a week or so apart, apparently a stray as I did not see him in the neighborhood. On 3/29 there was a pair hawking insects from bare branches. Last year there were 2 males and several females on the wires all spring but they bred across the road somewhere after rejecting my bird boxes. Before the road was moved there was a very old and worn oak on the bank across from the driveway entrance. A pair bred there every year in one of its many holes. The tree is gone but apparently there are other holes nearby.

(Last entry 04/02/09)

Addendum: Some fall migration figures indicate that our breeding birds do not merely spread out from the woods, but may actually be migrating south, Thus the Kiptopeke (Va,) banding station had banded by the 1st of Sept. 09, 21 Cardinals, and 49 Car. Wrens and the Cape May (NJ) "morning flight" counted on 9/3-4-5 8,4 and 6 Car. Wrens and 6, x, 6 Cardinals (the x for numerous, their attention being on warblers). This, of course raises the question of why is there a gap between August when our Cardinals disappear and November when the winter residents arrive?