Count
birds instead of staying inside this winter
One,
two, three, four: cardinals, finches and chickadees. How many birds can you
count in your backyard this winter?
While
you may not hear their boisterous whistles and tweets like you do in spring,
birds are still in your backyard. Your yard may look gloomy and dull this time
of year, but there are bright spots, or feathers, to see! In fact, many
species of birds are just arriving from as far away as Canada. It is migration
season, when many of our feathered friends travel to the warm state of Florida
to escape the frozen, snowy north.
What
might you see bustling and flitting around your yard? Well, you might set your
sights on a yellow-bellied sapsucker, a migratory woodpecker that gets its name
because of the holes it bores into trees to “suck” the sap out of
the bark.
Or
you might see an American goldfinch or chipping sparrow. Although their colors
are duller in the winter, goldfinches are still easy to spot through bare
branches and brown leaves because of their yellow feathers, black wings with
white markings and cone-shaped bill. The chipping sparrow is a robust little
bird with a rust-colored “cap” on its head. It must love to be
heard because it sings loudly from high, outer limbs of trees. Chipping
sparrows like feeders too, if you have one.
Counting
and viewing birds is as easy as walking out your back door and looking in your
trees, bushes or at your feeder. Make it a family event and take mom or dad
outside with you.
Things
to have handy: binoculars, bird guides and checklists to keep track of the kind
of birds you see and how many you count. If you plan to be outside for a long
period of time, take a blanket to sit on and a cup of hot chocolate!
You
can also join the FWC’s Wings
Over Florida program or become a Junior Birder by visiting FloridaBirdingTrail.com
and selecting “Birding Resources” in the left-hand menu; then click
on “Wings Over Florida.” That is where you can learn about the
Junior Birder Program and download a copy of the Bird Detective checklist.
Another
opportunity to count birds in your backyard happens Feb. 17-20, 2012. The
yearly Great Backyard Bird Count is the largest bird count in North America.
This event helps scientists learn things, like how winter weather influences
bird populations, how this year’s migration compares with last
year’s, and what kinds of birds are in cities and rural areas. For
information about this upcoming event, visit http://birdsource.org/gbbc.
So
don’t become part of the gloomy winter season, Get Outdoors Florida! and
go count birds!
http://www.oysterradio.com e-mail
manager@oysterradio.com with comments
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