By Kristen Currie
What to watch for in December: Robins and Bluebirds
While Austin has American Robins year round, winter brings in more of these delightful birds. These big songbirds are easy to recognize as they forage on grassy lawns or swoop into Ashe junipers (cedar trees) to gorge on berries. They are “the red red robin come bob bob bobbin’ along” of an old Al Jolson song. Robin Redbreast in fact has a deep orange breast and a Santa Claus potbelly, with bright white under its tail, and a gray back. It has white eye arcs set off by its darker black head. The female’s breast can be much paler orange and sometimes tricks people into thinking it is a different species. Robins have a distinct upright posture, and often appear to be listening to the ground when they cock their heads sideways. They are visual feeders and can spot worms, one of their favorite foods.
When the weather is mild you might hear robins singing. Their song is likened to “cheerily, cheerio, cheer up” in a lilting pattern. In winter though, you are more often treated to a cluck or chuckle call, or a very high alarm call used when a predator is spotted. The alarm call has a ventriloquial quality which protects the bird from broadcasting its exact position to a hawk on the hunt.
While American Robins are gregarious birds, moving around in large flocks, there is another thrush in town that is much more retiring. The aptly named Hermit Thrush may overwinter in your yard or greenbelt, where it forages quietly on the ground or in trees searching for berries and insects. It will visit suet too. The Hermit Thrush has a distinctive “churt” call and louder “vree” call that can help you locate it. Hermit Thrushes don’t usually sing during the winter, but a spell of mild weather like we had in November may prompt them into singing their magical flute-like song. Look for a bird smaller than a robin that has a robin’s upright posture, potbelly, warm brown coloration on its back, spotted breast on a white background, and a reddish cinnamon tail. Hermit Thrushes will visit suet feeders and bird baths allowing good looks. Come April or May they will leave for breeding grounds in northern states and Canada.
A striking member of the thrush family that lives in Austin year round is the Eastern Bluebird. In winter migrants and winter residents will swell their numbers. Commons Ford Ranch and Emma Long Metropolitan Parks in west Austin and Big Webberville Park in far east Austin are good places to admire these birds that have stunning blue heads, backs and wings and chestnut breasts with white bellies. Watch for a plump upright bird often perched on a fence or lower branch of a tree that flies to the ground to catch an insect and then flies back to its perch in a behavior called ground sallying. But this year a flash of blue may be something rarer than the beloved Eastern Bluebird. Reports of sky-blue Mountain Bluebirds in Williamson County in November are raising hopes among birders that some might find their way to Travis County. These are irruptive winter visitors to Texas, meaning they are unpredictable in their occurrence. Drought and fires in the western states may be pushing them further east than normal to forage for food. Mountain Bluebirds prefer wide open habitats and berries of trees like the Flameleaf Sumac. You are much more likely to encounter them on county roads in rangeland than in Austin or its suburbs. While the male is breathtakingly blue above and below, the female is a study in brownish gray. Look for a glimmer of blue on her wings and tail.
Even less common than Mountain Bluebirds, Western Bluebirds also showed up in November in Williamson County and will also probably be in the area through the winter. These can be easily confused with Eastern Bluebirds but the blue on the male has a purplish cast as opposed to the deep blue of the Eastern male. The Western Bluebird male has an all blue head including the throat, and some chestnut on its shoulders and back that are absent on the Eastern Bluebird male. Once again the females are drab gray and tougher to identify, so snap a photo if you can. While Eastern and Mountain Bluebirds might be seen in large meadows, the Western Bluebird prefers woodland edges and open woods. A sighting of any of these bluebird species will make your day this December.
Looking for a holiday gift for the birds in your life? One of the best things to provide for birds is the natural foods that will sustain them through the winter. Native berry-producing trees with winter fruit like yaupon holly and possumhaw holly, Ashe juniper and flameleaf sumac will attract a wide variety of birds including cardinals, woodpeckers, mockingbirds and cedar waxwings. Winter is the time to plant them so their roots can get established before the heat of the summer. Find a native plant supplier through the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
