Kay’s Birding Blog

The mercury plummeted to the teens, and even down to single digits this week, driving out the few remaining sparrows tucked into our prairie installation.  But many birds still visit our feeders with a vengeance.  The sunflower feeder must be filled at least twice a day for the chickadees, nuthatches and goldfinches.  Juncos and American Tree Sparrows chow down on millet spread on the front porch.

We are often asked what we do about feeders when we leave for the winter.  This year, our plan is to head south next week – at least six weeks later than usual.  Since it has been very cold and everything is under a significant layer of snow, some of our avian visitors will have to find other sources.  Chickadees and nuthatches cache food for later in the winter, but ground feeders likely do not do that.

Some of our regulars will move to one of two neighbors who put out seeds, some will leave the area and some will seek out natural sources.  But my favorite birds this winter, a pair of  Red-bellied Woodpeckers spent the entire winter on Charter Sanctuary last year.  Clearly they were able to find enough food without our handouts.

That’s what good habitat can do for a bird.

After a week and a half of heavy snows, the landscape is considerably different than it was under the previous dusting of powder. Amazingly, there are still a few sparrows tucked into the tall grasses. And why not? Prairie grasses have structural strength that allows them to stand through heavy rains, wild winds and even blizzards. This structure provides cover for birds to escape whatever Mother Nature throws at them and there are more than enough seeds for sustenance. While it is unlikely that they will all remain throughout the winter, it is wonderful to see how a native prairie provides for wild things in even the harshest weather.

There is only one downside; the height of the grasses has robbed Snow Buntings of the broad, open areas they once used. Next year, we will be cutting a large area of prairie at the end of the season in the hope of bringing these engaging little finches back to Charter Sanctuary.

Snowbunting by Robert Epstein

Although it is late fall with a light dusting of snow and winter’s cold breath is finally drifting down from the north, there are still sparrows in the prairie installation on Charter Sanctuary.  Not so many as there were a month ago, but certainly far more than we’ve ever seen this late in the year.  These birds are likely still hanging around because the grasses provide plenty of cover and abundant seeds.

The attached photo was shot from the Charter’s driveway, across the big blue/Indian grass section, down through a Canada goldenrod dominated wetland.  Beyond the red area, which is primarily little bluestem, is SBTH Habitat Discovery Center.

This prairie installation was begun four summers ago.  Although we haven’t yet attracted all the avian species we hope to, the sparrows clearly love it — in all seasons.