For the Birds: The Changing of the Birds

Varied Thrush, male

The Changing 

   of the Birds

Text and photos by Christine Southwick

Fall is here. Gone are the summer birds. Not until spring will we delight in the songs of the Orange-crowned Warblers and the Yellow Warblers, nor catch the passing notes of the Olive-sided and the Willow Flycatchers.

My heart quickens to hear the first hauntingly beautiful notes of the wintering Varied Thrush. Neighborhood reports of their winter songs are starting to come in. Homeowners with enough native plants and trees generally have these lovely birds until early May.

Fox Sparrow in December with heated bath

There are other birds that come here to winter in our milder winters:

• Dark-eyed Juncos with their startling-white outer tail feathers flashing as they dart away from intruders come southwestward from Canada and Montana;
• Fox Sparrows that bred in higher elevations shelter in our woods with salal, or in Himalayan blackberries;
• American Robins that are here through the winter have come from further north—while the ones that were here during the summer have flown further south.

Snow geese are just starting to arrive from Wrangel Island off the Siberian coast, and will stay in Washington until sometime in April. The Skagit and Frazer deltas with their farmed fields and the native bulrushes support the largest flocks on the West Coast.

Look carefully - it's a
White-throated Sparrow stopped for water

Some shorebirds like the Black Turnstone should be showing up soon to winter here until they leave in April for their Alaskan breeding grounds.

Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, Black-capped and Chestnut-backed chickadees are year-round residents. Anna Hummingbirds have become year-round residents, and some Townsend’s Warblers now stay through the winters.

Townsend's Warbler in March-one of wintering pair

Many shorebirds (e.g. Whimbrels) and land birds (e.g. White-throated Sparrow) neither winter here, nor breed in our neighborhoods — they use our resources as resting and refueling stops during migration. Migration refueling stops are as important to these birds as their destinations, and can mean the difference between life and death. Without water or the food they need, they may not have the strength to reach their destination and so fall to the ground exhausted never to go again.

Keep liquid water year round, and plant/ keep native trees and plants for shelter and for food. If you really want to help, keep fresh seed all year long. Winter food can make the difference in survival for our resident and wintering birds. Throw away any seeds that get moldy. I have baffles over all my feeders — they slow down the squirrels and keep the seeds drier.