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Our Winter Birds
Written By: William McReynolds - Highlands Plateau Audubon Society | Issue: Winter - 2023
Some birds skip the Cold Stream Express and stick with us here on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau.
Dark-eyed Junco
We know about the birds that go through the winter with us here on the Plateau because we
inventory them.
Every year.
In December the National Audubon Society sponsors the Christmas Bird Count that mobilizes the many Audubon chapters and volunteers into an international count-your-birds event. The Audubon Society counts representative samples of our North American birds every year. It’s serious ornithology in the form of hemispheric citizen science.
These Christmas Bird Counts have occurred every winter since 1900. CBCs now take place across the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and beyond. Counters include as many as 2,400 counting groups including over 60,000 individuals whose counts total upwards of 70 million birds. These yearly bird counts feed what is one of the largest citizen science databases in the world.Our local Highlands Plateau Audubon Society participates in these bird counts every year and, as a result, we know what birds winter with us. Looking across years, we see samples comprising as many as 50 species and 2000 birds a year.
Carolina Wren
Some years we see over 500 Slate-colored Juncos, for instance, making this one of our most abundant winter species. These precious little birds have white bellies and skitter about at ground level in a manner reminiscent of pigeons. They eat seeds and are friendly with other birds.
Another common winter bird is the Carolina Chickadee. This namesake bird is often the first to come to a winter feeder, ahead of the mixed winter flock soon to follow. Our Chickadees, like our high-count Song Sparrows and Carolina Wren, puff themselves up in a down blanket for warmth. The normally sleek Wren can look like a brown feathered tennis ball on a frigid winter day.
Happy winter bird watching from your local Audubon group. The Highlands Plateau Audubon Society, focused on enjoying and preserving birds and their habitats, is a Chapter of the National Audubon Society and a 501(c)(3) organization. Find us at highlandsaudubonsociety.org.
