Bird watching: assemblies

Self-tutoring about bird watching: the tutor mentions combinations one might see here in the fall.

Here, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, we’ve a lot of birds that don’t migrate. It’s warm enough here over the winter, one supposes, that numerous varieties of local birds can just make due with leftovers from the summer and fall, plus whatever invertebrates remain active. Other parts of Canada, especially between the Rockies and Nova Scotia, more of the birds seem to “fly south” for the winter.

Most of the time in fall and winter here, it’s rainy but relatively warm, especially for Canada: maybe 5 to 10 Celsius during the day, and not freezing at night. However, that means days can be somewhat gloomy, with it being cloudy and rainy day after day, with a few birds on the lawn now and then.

However, when the sun comes out in fall or winter, the neighbourhood explodes with birds: yesterday was no exception. Looking out at a landscaped area covered in bark chips (very common around here), I saw, in close proximity, two Stellers jays, two northern flickers, and even two doves! (The doves are always around, apparently, though one doesn’t often see them in that context.) Nearby, on a lawn, a wave of starlings landed.

The jays, flickers, and doves are all big, physical birds: they were digging and throwing around the bark chips and leaves, likely looking for insects or grubs. They picked that lot for awhile, then moved on: by around twenty minutes later, all the birds had set off.

The assemblies of birds one can see in the winter around here can be surprising.

Source:

Hoar, De Smet et al: Birds of Canada. Edmonton: Lone Pine Publishing, 2010.