[Tweeters] Cold weather bird behavior - RCKI's

[Scott Ramos]

This past Sunday, it was in the high teens at Magnuson Park and the cold
certainly did seem to modify some bird behavior. As Eric mentioned,
Ruby-crowned Kinglets--at least half the birds I saw--were foraging on the
ground, some walking toward me to the point I could no longer focus my
camera. They only seemed to notice my presence when I attempted to drop to
a lower profile.
RCKI - https://flic.kr/p/2psBtci
Along the Lake Washington shoreline, while overhanging branches were laden
with icicles built from splashing waves, the ground up to about a meter
above the water line was not frozen, unlike the rest of the open areas. As
a result, there were several species that came to feed along the shore that
are normally not seen there. Well, Song Sparrows were abundant as they
always are, but there were also several Fox Sparrow, Golden-crowned
Sparrow, even a Bewick's Wren feeding around the pebbles.
The hard freeze over the weekend softened some of the rose hips and a
couple of Spotted Towhee were taking advantage. Normally, no one bothers
with rose hips, they are just too hard.
SPTO - https://flic.kr/p/2psG7tt
There are often many Killdeer along the cobble beach adjacent the Sail
Pavilion in the north end of the park. On Sunday, there were none. Instead
several Killdeer were out in the middle of the grassy sportfields. Why?
These fields were frozen solid.
And, the huge flocks of Short-billed Gulls, sometimes numbering ~200 birds,
that normally cruise the sportsfields looking for worms, were absent. Why?
Because these fields were frozen solid. A few dozen were on the swim
platform but all the others were AWOL.

Scott Ramos
Seattle

On Sun, Jan 14, 2024 at 9:41 PM Eric Ellingson <esellingson at gmail.com>
wrote:


>   Most Ruby-crowned Kinglets I've seen are usually quickly going about in

> bushes and trees, sometimes way high up, other times closer to eye level.

> However, even at eye level, they can be difficult birds to get a photo of.

> Also, the scarlet crown is not always seen on the males or if seen just as

> a red flash.

>

> So it was fascinating to see two of these hopping along the ground on the

> trail at Point Whitehorn. They seemed oblivious to us standing in the

> middle of the path. They would come toward us passing by our feet and

> continuing along the path.

>

> The scarlet on the head was very visible but not raised as when agitated.

> This and the behavior of feeding and hopping along on the ground are not

> the norm.   My guess about this ground-level feeding is that with the high

> winds and freezing weather (into single digits) their food of insects was

> blown to the ground out of the shrubs and trees they would have been in.

> Who, knows? Also, maybe a way to conserve energy?

>

> Camera in hand, as usual, I could not pass up the opportunity.  I took

> many shots and videos of them hopping and foraging. Often they would come

> toward me getting too close for my camera to focus on them.  If I had a

> small insect in my hand I'm guessing they would have hopped into my had to

> eat it.

>

> The 29-second video is comprised of some close-ups showing the scarlet

> crown and foraging successes.  Watch it here: https://flic.kr/p/2pswNca

> Enjoy.

>

> What unusual behaviors have you seen during this very cold and windy past

> few days?

>

>

> Eric Ellingson

>

> 360-820-6396

> esellingson at gmail.com

> https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericellingson/

>

>

>

>

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