Do songbirds pay a price for winter wandering?

Date: April 15, 2019

Source: American Ornithological Society Publications Office

In years when winter conditions are especially harsh, birds that depend on conifer seeds for food are sometimes forced to leave their homes in northern forests and wander far from their normal ranges to find enough to eat. A new study published in The Auk: Ornithological Advances uses citizen science data to show for the first time that these winter movements -- called "irruptions" -- lead to a decline in birds' population density in their breeding range the following summer, suggesting that irrupting birds succumb to the difficulties of avoiding predators and finding food in unfamiliar landscapes.

Many birdwatchers love irruptions, because they can temporarily bring seldom-seen boreal birds south in large numbers. However, we know very little about how these journeys into unfamiliar territory actually affect bird populations. Red-breasted Nuthatches are a useful species in which to study this, because they return to the same core breeding areas even after winters with massive irruptions, making it possible to track how their breeding populations are doing from one year to the next.

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Where do crows go in winter?

Date:  August 8, 2018

Source:  American Ornithological Society Publications Office

Summary:

'Partial migration' -- where some individuals within a population migrate and some don't -- is common among birds, but scientists know very little about how it actually works. A new study tracks where American Crows go during the winter and shows that while individuals are consistent in whether they migrate or stay put, partial migration might give them enough flexibility to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

Read on  

Geese reduce metabolic rate to cope with winter

New study shows heart rate and body temperature falls in the coldest conditions

Date:  February 1, 2018

Source:  Anglia Ruskin University

Summary:  New research shows that geese cope with the harsh winter climate by reducing their heart rate and body temperature.

     

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Are we killing birds with kindness?

Three things not to do for our feathered friends this winter

Published: 14:47 Friday 29 December 2017

We want to feed birds through winter, but we may be making some mistakes in our methods. The RSPB offers 3 tips on what not to do. 

We all know we need to keep bird feeders and baths topped up over the winter months to ensure our winged friends weather the storm of winter. 

But there are some things we shouldn't be doing, which can risk a bird's health, and in some cases lead to death. Here's the RSPB's advice on what not to do. 

1. Don't put out fat balls in netting Fat balls may be a great energy source for birds, but not when they're housed in nylon netting, which is often used for easy hanging but can end up trapping birds' feet or beaks, leading to injury or even death. If you buy fat balls, remove them from any nets and put them in a safer, bespoke hanging feeder. or leave them loose on a bird table.

Read more at: 

Chillier Winters, Smaller Beaks

Date:  July 13, 2017

Source: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University - OIST

Summary: Although Charles Darwin lived and worked in the 19th century, modern evolutionary biologists are far from exhausting all avenues of inquiry regarding birds and evolution. For example, in the 1990s, researchers began to explore a new question concerning the relationship between climate and the evolution of beak size.

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Why some birds sing elaborate songs in the winter

Male great reed warblers may be practicing how to woo

BY 

SUSAN MILIUS 

5:00PM, FEBRUARY 4, 2016

WHY SING IN WINTER  Marjorie Sorensen, tracking bird movements in a seasonally flooded valley in Zambia (left), is studying why great reed warblers (one shown, right) overwintering there sing so much.

Europe’s great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) and some other male long-distance migrants sing extensively when overwintering in sub-Saharan Africa, says Marjorie Sorensen, now at Goethe University in Frankfurt. “Why are they doing this when they’re thousands of kilometers from any possible breeding opportunity?”

Singing seems costly. Reed warbler songs — “very harsh-sounding and creaking,” Sorensen says — are changeable compositions made up from a male’s repertoire of some 40 to 60 sounds. Tests find that singing demands about 50 percent more energy than reed warblers spend resting. Plus, singing cuts into foraging time and risks catching predator attention.  

Warbler in winter

Biologists largely expected the wintertime musical extravagance to be territory defense. But the birds creak variations of courtship serenades instead of shorter territorial anthems, Sorensen and her colleagues report in the March American Naturalist. And instead of squabbling over their patches, the warblers freely crisscross the landscape. Nor did testosterone elevation left over from the previous breeding season play a role — levels had dropped to winter lows.

Source …

How are birds in the UK coping after the warmest and wettest December on record?

By Jeremy Coles

25 January 2016

December 2015 was an extraordinary month in the UK from a weather point of view.

The average temperature was almost 8C, nearly 4C warmer than the long-term average for the month since records began. And it was also record-breaking in terms of rainfall.

This has been no ordinary start to the winter season, says meteorologist and BBC Weather forecaster Nick Miller: “It represents the warmest and wettest start to winter the UK has seen since records began in 1910.

“December should really be characterised by spells of colder weather and a greater frequency of frost,” says Miller.

While we did have a brief taste of a "normal" cold and frosty winter weather in mid-January, it has returned to the unseasonally mild conditions once again. However, according to the Met Office the longer forecast into February looks changeable with mild, wet spells interspersed with colder, drier interludes and the possibility of some longer, colder spells returning later in February.

And with extraordinary weather, you'd expect our wildlife would show out of the ordinary behaviours.

Typically, birds would be out foraging for enough food to provide them with the energy they require to keep warm and survive the cold night. For some small birds, such as the blue tit, that could be for as long as 85% of the daylight hours.

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Norwegian mammals and birds have many different methods of surviving long, intense winter nights

March 2, 2015

Source:

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Norwegian mammals and birds have many different methods of surviving long, intense winter nights. A biologist reveals their secrets for survival.

For birds and animals that must live out in Norway's frigid winters, every second has to be spent finding enough food not just to survive the day, but also the long hard night.

Not every creature manages to survive -- it is not uncommon to find frozen birds in birdhouses after a winter cold snap.

Some creatures solve this problem by being inactive. Bears sleep and hedgehogs, bats, and the northern birch mouse all hibernate between October and April or May. But not every critter has this possibility.

Snow as an insulator

Surviving the cold is most difficult for small creatures -- large mammals and birds can go up to several days without food.

Small creatures tend to have a large surface area compared to their total body size, which means that their bodies loose heat quickly when the cold sets in. They also aren't able to store as much fat, which means less insulation and more heat loss. Surviving is all about preventing this heat loss.

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Trapping And Tracking The Mysterious Snowy Owl

Posted: March 11, 2014

This winter's unexpected arctic bird invasion has given owl researchers a rare opportunity. They're fitting a few of the errant owls with GPS backpacks to track their return to the Arctic.

This is Hungerford, a large female snowy owl. Last summer she was just a hatchling — a gray ball of fuzz in the middle of the Arctic tundra. In the fall, newly equipped with adult plumage, she flew thousands of miles south until she reached the coast of Maryland. And this winter, she became an important part of an unprecedented research project.

'Something Huge Is Going On'

Snowy owls are among the largest birds in North America, but scientists know very little about their behavior. The owls spend most of their days far from humans, hunting rodents and birds in the flat expanses of the Arctic Circle. In the winter, the owls move south, but they don't usually reach the United States. Most years, only a few are spotted in the northernmost states — a rare treat for birders. But this winter was different.

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Uncertainty Over the Benefits of Feeding Birds in Winter

June 24, 2013 — Wild bird populations are generally thought to benefit from being given additional food in winter but our understanding of the effects of such food provision is incomplete.

The results of a new study, carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), has found that feeding wild blue tits in winter resulted in less successful breeding during the following spring.

The research, published in Scientific Reports, revealed that woodland blue tits that were provided with fat balls as a supplementary food during the winter months went on to produce chicks that were smaller, of lower body weight and which had lower survival than the chicks of birds that did not receive any additional food.

Dr Jon Blount from Biosciences at the University of Exeter who led the research said: "Our research questions the benefits of feeding wild birds over winter. Although the precise reasons why fed populations subsequently have reduced reproductive success are unclear, it would be valuable to assess whether birds would benefit from being fed all year round rather than only in winter. More research is needed to determine exactly what level of additional food provisioning, and at what times of year, would truly benefit wild bird populations."

Read on

Waxwings extend their winter stay in Lancashire

3:44pm Friday 26th April 2013 in News

BIRDWATCHERS have reported ‘unprecedented’ sightings of a rare bird on an estate in Burnley, the latest date they have ever been seen in Lancashire. 

Yesterday, twitchers recorded 13 waxwings feeding on berries at Barnes Court, on the Brunshaw estate. 

The birds have normally migrated back to Scandinavia by the end of March but the unusually cold and prolonged winter has seen them stay here. 

The RSPB estimates only 100 or less of the species winter in the UK, normally in eastern England and Scotland. Allen Rycroft, 66, from Cliviger, is a member of East Lancashire Ornithology. 

He said: “There have been several sightings in the past few weeks of waxwings at Barnes Court and Grindleton Avenue. 

“Waxwings have never been seen here this late. Our records show the latest ever sighting in Lancashire was in 1996, on April 17, in Darwen. 

“They are a real treat to see with magnificent plumage. It’s great that they’re here in the middle of Burnley.” 

The waxwing is a plump bird, which is slightly smaller than a starling. 

It has a prominent reddish-brown crest with a black throat, a small black mask round its eye, yellow and white in the wings and a yellow-tipped tail. 

It does not breed in the UK, but is a winter visitor, when the population on its breeding grounds gets too big for the food available. 

Continued: http://www.thelancasterandmorecambecitizen.co.uk/news/10383480.Waxwings_extend_their_winter_stay_in_Lancashire/

Ag lands can be used as bird sanctuaries

By KATE CAMPBELL/Courtesy Of Ag Alert

Created:   01/27/2013 12:31:11 AM PST

Winter is usually a time when farming in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta slows down, but these days delta farmers are busy managing a different, louder -- and far more mobile -- aspect of their operations. Increasingly, land used to grow vegetable, field and forage crops from spring to fall is being transitioned to winter wildlife habitat.

The Cosumnes River Preserve, located off Interstate 5 south of Elk Grove, includes stands of old-growth valley oaks, vernal pools and natural wetlands. It also is home to the world's largest population of giant garter snakes; the area's rivers and streams provide habitat for protected fish.

And, on nearby Staten Island, a 9,000-acre agricultural tract outside Walnut Grove, there's one of the most important sandhill crane sanctuaries in the state.

At sunset on a winter evening last week, the cranes -- redheaded, with a wingspan of up to eight feet and weighing more than 10 pounds -- swooped over the island's flooded cornfields and settled in for the night. The birds' haunting bugles joined the avian chorus of quacks and calls that reaches a crescendo at dusk.

This wildlife phenomenon, which also takes place in Sacramento Valley rice fields to the north, attracts tourists and wildlife photographers from all over the world.

To nurture these burgeoning wildlife populations, increased habitat is created through a carefully managed system of field flooding and draining, which breaks down rice and corn residue while providing food and habitat.

Environmentalists and many farmers agree they want the birds, which are part of the winter migration along the Pacific Flyway, to continue roosting in the delta far into the future. To encourage that, they're testing and adopting cultural practices for corn and other crops.

Read on:  http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_22460863/ag-lands-can-be-used-bird-sanctuaries