WINTER BIRD MYTHS
The world of birding is full of
myths. Some have been handed down for
generations, while others have cropped up more recently. Here are a few of the common myths. Hopefully, I can help dismiss these myths once
and for all.
MYTH #1: Birds will freeze to death when temperatures
get well below zero.
FACT: Birds are well equipped to survive the
coldest of temperatures. They store fat
during the short days of winter to keep themselves warm during the long
nights. During those freezing nights,
they fluff their feathers to trap heat and slow their metabolism to conserve
energy. They also look for good places
to roost, whether it’s a birdhouse, natural tree cavity, grass thicket,
evergreen or shrub.
MYTH #2: American robins always fly south for winter.
FACT: If there is sufficient food on their breeding
grounds, American robins, bluebirds, and a host of finches and owls remain in
the area where they spent the summer.
MYTH #3: You should take birdhouses down in winter
because birds don’t use them.
FACT: On the contrary—a birdhouse makes a great
roosting house in winter. Eastern
bluebirds will pile into houses to spend cold nights. One photographer once even snapped a picture
of 13 male bluebirds in a single house.
MYTH #4: If you leave town during winter, the birds
that rely on the food from your feeders will die.
FACT: Research has proven this one wrong. Scientists have shown that chickadees, for
example, will eat only 25% of their daily winter food from feeders. They find the other 75% in the wild.
MYTH #5: Birds always migrate in flocks.
FACT: Though many birds migrate in flocks—common
nighthawks, American robins, swallows and European starlings, for example—other
species migrate alone.
MYTH #6 Birds’ feet will stick to
metal bird feeders and suet cages.
FACT: Most suet cages have a laminated covering, so
you don’t have to worry about birds’ feet sticking to it. But in general, their feet can endure cold
weather. Birds have a protective scale like
covering on the feet, and special veins and arteries that keep their feet warm.
MYTH #7: Peanut butter will get stuck in birds’
throats, and they will die.
FACT: Peanut butter is a very nourishing food for
birds, especially in winter when the production of fat is important to their
survival. The myth that it will stick to
their throats simply isn’t true.
MYTH #8: Woodpeckers drill on house siding in winter
for food or to create nesting cavities.
FACT: Though there are cases where woodpeckers find
food in wood siding (and may even nest inside the boards), nearly all the
drilling in late winter is done to make a noise to court mates. This is their way of singing a song to
declare territory.
MYTH #9: If you have warm water in a birdbath when the
temperatures is below freezing, birds will bathe in it and freeze to death from
wet feathers.
FACT: Birds will drink from a heated birdbath, but
if the temperature is below freezing, they will not bathe in it and get their
feathers wet.
See you next time,
Sandi Hillermann McDonald
