NEWS

Early birds get the worm

Todd Hill
Reporter
A northern cardinal is perched in a tree at Lowe-Volk Nature Center near Crestline. Cardinals winter over in Ohio, but access to feeders may have expanded their northern range. Jason J. Molyet/Telegraph-Forum

BUCYRUS - If you haven't seen any robins yet during this frequently mild winter of 2015-16, you're one of the few who has missed out on these traditional harbingers of spring.

Technically speaking, north central Ohio's robins don't routinely migrate south during the winter, so if you've seen any poking around in your yard this winter, that's not all that unusual.

"When people think of birds migrating they think of birds flying way south. A lot of our resident species such as robins, bluebirds and goldfinches do migrate, but it's weather-dependent. They don't need to go very far. With snow cover lacking this year, robins have had a few more food choices, so we've seen quite a few in and out," Josh Dyer, program coordinator for the Crawford County Park District, said.

"Robins, starlings and cedar waxwings will flock together too. Birds that tend to be insectivorous will turn to a sugar-heavy diet in winter," Jason Larson, director of the Richland County Park District, said.

Both turkey vultures and the rarer, more aggressive black vultures also have a reputation for skipping town when the snow starts to fly. The so-called buzzards of Hinckley Township in Medina County always get a lot of press when they return in the spring. But as with robins this winter, if they've left they probably haven't gone very far.

A downy woodpecker forages in a tree at Lowe-Volk Nature Center near Crestline. The species can find insect larvae in trees even during the winter.

"They will stick around if they have a roost in the area. There are roosts in Athens, somewhere around Mansfield, at Millersburg in Holmes County and at Denison University (in Granville, Licking County). They will leave the roost and travel many, many miles looking for food, and then come back to the roost," Larson said.

"Weather does play a part. They're not dumb, they know that with the wind at their backs they get better fuel mileage. Vultures also migrate at night. They're great astronomers and they understand what the sky is telling them," Dyer said.

Dyer said he had yet to see any vultures flying over Lowe-Volk Park near Crestline this winter, but that appears to make him the local exception. An informal survey of visitors to the Facebook pages of The Telegraph-Forum, News Journal in Mansfield and Marion Star revealed dozens of sightings of vultures across north central Ohio, even the black-headed ones, as well as robins and bluebirds in recent days.

One person reported seeing red-winged blackbirds in the area already, another grackles (near Possum Run Road, Richland County).

"I saw about 5 million crows and seagulls," Chad Kuhn wrote on The News Journal's Facebook page.

"The different kinds of blackbirds will flock together, they're very gregarious. You'll see flocks of thousands, the thinking being that more eyes are better than one at finding food, and then they'll break up in the spring," Larson said.

Larson noted that Clear Fork Reservoir, near Lexington, has once again been a prime viewing location this winter for birders interested in spotting various gull species as well as geese. Waterfowl have been very active across the state the past few weeks, no doubt because there's been so much open water around. Larson also thinks the reservoir's height - it's one of the highest places in the state - may attract a lot of birds passing overhead.

What happens, however, if the lakes and ponds freeze, and a fresh snowfall suddenly covers the landscape? Although our region has been relatively mild of late, with little to no snow on the ground, temperatures are tumbling again this week, and snowflakes are once again flying. Will the robins and bluebirds and other seemingly confused migrants make it through this turn in the weather?

"The birds know more than we do," Jennifer L. Haldeman of Mount Vernon wrote on The News Journal's Facebook page.

They certainly know some things we don't.

"Even if birds have a short life span, they've been doing this for eons and instinct kicks in. You may see some mortality with young birds, but unless it's extremely cold or there's a huge snowpack they won't be horribly impacted," Larson said.

"They can get stranded. It's a part of living in the world that we don't grasp anymore. Birds can succumb to these changes, but they can also adapt. That's why they're still here. They will carry on," Dyer said.

Sometimes, however, they don't. Larson noted that harsh winter weather across Ohio in the late 1970's did a real number on Carolina wrens and northern bobwhites then resident in the state.

"The wren has come back, but the bobwhite has never really recovered, plus its habitat has dwindled," he said.

Many area residents routinely put out bird feeders from roughly Thanksgiving to Easter to help the finches, sparrows and other birds get through the winter. And many neglect to keep their feeders stocked during these months. But there are various schools of thought on whether that's wise, or even matters.

Dyer observed that even during weather like this week's, a downy woodpecker can uncover insect larvae hidden in the bark of a tree.

"It won't affect birds to any great deal (if you stop feeding them). Birds were around a long time before we started putting feed out, although feeders may have allowed the northern cardinal to expand its range. It used to be no further north than Virginia," Larson said.

At the Richland County Park District's Gorman Nature Center, south of Mansfield, staffers keep the bird feeders filled year-round, although they cut back a bit in the spring.

"On unseasonably warm days in the winter you'll see little or no activity at feeders because the birds know they can expend energy and go forage in the forest," Larson said. "Then an inch of snow falls and boom, they're right back at the feeders."

thill3@nncogannett.com

419-563-9225

Twitter: @ToddHillMNJ