Pine Warbler. Photo by Bill Sanford

By Jane Tillman for KXAN

What to watch for in January – Hungry Birds

How do birds survive our cold winter nights? They have a variety of strategies. Some have put on extra fat as insulation, although there is a trade-off since too much weight makes it harder to fly. Some can reduce body temperature to conserve energy reserves. The Black-capped Chickadee, a northern relative of our Carolina Chickadee, can lower its body temperature up to 22 degrees at night. Some birds shelter in dense evergreens. Others use tree cavities, where some, like Eastern Bluebirds, will huddle together. Birds puff up their down feathers, and tuck in their bills and feet to minimize heat loss.

A puffed up Carolina Chickadee. Photo by Jess Osborne

The birds that live here full time and those that are winter Texans are generally adapted to the vagaries of our weather, but during extremely cold, snowy or icy conditions they won’t turn down supplemental food you can provide. Black-oil sunflower seed is widely available and will appeal to a variety of species including titmice, chickadees, cardinals, finches, jays, doves, woodpeckers and sparrows. Suet, which is high in fat, can be placed in a suet cage and placed snugly against a tree trunk. It will attract many species, including some you won’t see at seed feeders such as Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Pine, Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Downy, Red-bellied and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Carolina Wrens, and less common White-throated Sparrows might turn up at suet too. If you find your suet disappears (it is popular with squirrels), try red pepper suet. Look for it at specialty bird stores or high-end hardware stores. Unfortunately starlings like suet too, and one solution that has mixed success is to hang an upside down suet feeder which discourages them. Some people find that a free-hanging suet feeder is popular with birds – get one with a tail prop, which makes it more comfortable for woodpeckers to reach the suet.

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the cold. Photo by Jeff Osborne

There are not many reports of hummingbirds in Austin this winter, but if you do have one, help it in inclement weather. Hummingbirds have very high energy demands and need to eat almost constantly in daylight hours. At night in cold weather they go into a state of torpor where they lower their body temperature substantially to save energy. This slows their heart rate and breathing and prevents them from starving. In the morning, they need to find food very quickly, so if you have a wintering hummer, be sure to put out nectar before dawn to be help them survive. (Learn more about torpor tested to its limits in high-altitude hummingbirds of the Peruvian Andes in a study by a physiological ecologist at the University of New Mexico.)

Rufous Hummingbird, the most common wintering hummingbird in Austin. Photo by Lance Felber

If you do feed the birds, be sure to provide safe conditions. Since birds like cardinals and doves are ground feeders, they are especially vulnerable to cats. Placing your feeder about 10 feet away from taller vegetation should allow escape time. Clean up waste seed so it won’t get moldy during wet weather. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology recommends that feeders be placed within 3 feet of windows or more than 30 feet away. This minimizes the danger of birds hitting windows. Learn more about bird feeders and bird feeding at Project Feeder Watch. And be sure to put out fresh water daily. Birds need it in cold weather too.

Make a Resolution – Learn your Neighborhood Birds

Connecting with nature through birds is a fun activity that can reduce stress, improve mood and enhance well-being. The free Merlin app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for both Android and Apple devices makes identifying birds easier than ever. You can answer a few questions about a bird you’ve seen, use a photo of the bird, or even record the bird’s song or call to put a name with the bird. While you can appreciate birds without knowing their names, knowing adds an extra dimension to your enjoyment.

Resolve to go bird watching in 2024. A great way to learn more about our central Texas birds is to go on a free field trip with Travis Audubon. Winter is a wonderful time to enjoy Austin’s birds.

Wintering Gull but not By the Sea

You are not imagining things if you see a buoyant slender-winged gull fly by here in Austin. Lady Bird Lake, Lake Travis and Lake Walter Long are good places to look for wintering Ring-billed Gulls. While most of us think of all gulls as seagulls, the Ring-billed Gull is not tied to the sea. Instead these gulls winter inland on lakes in addition to coastal areas, and in summer they breed on northern lakes. The adult is aptly named – look for the ring around the yellow bill. Immature Ring-billed Gulls are different from the crisply gray above and white below look of the adults. Learn more about the challenges of identifying gulls at Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds website. These gulls stay warm by fluffing their feathers, lowering the body temperature of their legs and feet with a sophisticated heat exchange mechanism, and often adopting a one-legged yoga posture to minimize exposure.

Ring-billed Gull. Photo by Jeff Osborne

Ring-billed Gulls are omnivores. Fish, insects, and grain are some of the foods on their menu. We can help gulls stay healthy by picking up trash which they may eat by mistake. Reducing or eliminating pesticides that make their way into our waterways also help their fish and insect foods thrive.

Migrating Whimbrels at Lake Travis. Photo by Jeff Osborne

Pine Warbler at Suet – Photo by Bill Sanford