Northern Parula in December

[Gregg Goodrich]

There are no previous December eBird records of Northern Parula in the Denver/Fort Collins area until today December 1st, 2020. The Chatfield bird was seen and photographed today. The Springs, Pueblo, Pitkin Cnty and Garfield Cnty have had December records. It will get down to around 20 degrees tonight with chance of snow. Wonder if it will be here tomorrow.

Gregg Goodrich

Highlands Ranch

[Brandon]

Pueblo County is up to 17 species of warblers now thst have been seen during December to February.  Pretty amazing total.  Most have been since the 1990s.

Brandon K. Percival
Pueblo West, CO

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[Bryan Guarente]

Gregg and others,

I would love to hear whether the Parula and Pine Warbler stuck around after the cold frontal passage last night.  I doubt the temperatures would be the problem.  The snow could cause food gathering issues.  The winds are appropriate for migration southward, but I don't know whether the "need" to migrate is still there.  Hormonally, There must be a point in every bird that they don't feel like they need to migrate anymore.  These birds will be interesting case studies from both the perspective of Dave Leatherman and from Bryan "Weatherman".  Bad joke... moving on.

Keep us informed.

Thanks,

Bryan

Bryan Guarente

Meteorologist/Instructional Designer

UCAR/The COMET Program

Boulder, CO

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[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

I almost responded to this issue yesterday when Gregg brought it up, and I will now.

Sub-freezing temperatures are rarely an issue for birds unless they are extreme, take away the availability of free water or coincide with conditions that got a bird's feathers wet.  When feathers are dry the literature says they can result in as much as an 80-degree difference in air temp compared to that under the feathers next to the skin.  In other words, it could be -20 outside and 60 right next to the skin.  That data comes from the famous ecologist Ernst Mayer's work in Maine with thermistors and a golden-crowned kinglet.  Cute little birds get counted every year on the Nome, Alaska CBC.  Ducks move on not because the water is cold but because the surface freezes and takes away their ability to tip or dive and obtain food.

As Brian said, the biggest issue with birds and the onset of significantly colder weather is generally decreased food availability (and the issue of liquid water).  A lot of the birds we get excited about seeing in early winter are neotropical migrants that for whatever reason are still passing thru or even lingering.  These late insectivores still rely on insects, especially insect types with chemistry that suppresses their freezing temperature (usually involving glycols) and insect cadavers.  Also, most neotropical migrants also have dietary flexibility that allows exploiting fruits. and when all else fails, can lower their standards and engage in desperate measures like scavenging and stealing.   Midges, such as what the Bay-breasted Warbler at the Fountain sewage plant must be getting, or aphids and scales (Tennessee, Black-throated Green, Pine, Northern Parula and Black-throated Blue lately along the middle Front Range) make up the bulk of what cold weather insectivores can still find and rely on.  But we also have species of grasshoppers that overwinter as adults, and even certain moths and butterflies, flies, ichneumonid wasps, leafhoppers, etc. can be active in temps as low as 45 degrees.  Then there are always back-up foods like the contents of galls, cocoons, spider webs and egg sacs, feeders with suet, etc.    Birds are simply amazing in coping, of course, within the limits all life forms have.

It was this time of year in 2013 when we had 10 species of warblers on the Colorado RBA.  One of them was a Northern Parula in Boulder that along with the famous Bay-breasted and some yellow-rumps was sustaining itself on aphids from one particular Austrian Pine.  I took pics of it on 16November2013 but believe it made it into early December.  Apparently none of us entered this individual into eBird if Gregg says there are no records from the Denver to FC area for early December.  That brings up another misconception, that being the notion eBird is a complete record of all that is known.  Far from it, but I'll leave it at that.

Anybody checking the Denver West Office Park?  Interlocken?  28th e of Baseline in Boulder?  Bow Mar apartment complex in Littleton? Longmont neighborhood e of Hover s of Nelson?  No doubt many other aphid-scale-midge "food courts" like the one Joey just found near Chatfield exist out there.

Dave Leatherman

Fort Collins

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From: cob...@googlegroups.com <cob...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Bryan Guarente <bryan.g...@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 7:57 AM
To: Brandon <flamm...@gmail.com>
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Subject: Re: [cobirds] Re: Northern Parula in December

 

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[jared.d...@gmail.com]

Dave's post reminded me of an excellent book on this -- Bernd Heinrich's Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival. The book is largely written about northeastern species, but briefly addresses our poorwill's torpor. Heinrich makes a star of Maine's Golden-crowned Kinglets in the book. 

Among the most memorable and darling cold weather behaviors of our metro area birds has to be the lines of Bushtit that pack in together to stay warm. I don't know if they're consistent with their poses -- but in most lines (usually during cold, cold mornings) I see, the birds alternate: one looking forward, one looking backward, one looking forward, etc. So it's tail, head, tail, head facing you. Is it to keep an eye on all directions? Balance? I have some photos of this, but the new Google groups interface doesn't seem to allow embedded photos anymore...

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO

[Rolf Hertenstein, Lyons]

Perhaps the alternating position maximizes body area in direct contact, minimizing heat loss.  Just a guess.

 Rolf Hertenstein, Lyons, Boulder County

[Robert Raker]

In response to Bryan's request, I am reporting that as of 1:30pm today, I had both the Pine warbler and the Northern Parula along with two Yellow-rumped Warblers feeding on what looked like midges at the previously reported beaver pond below Chatfield dam in Douglas County. See pics at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S77001588

Note that the Pine Warbler has a very deformed lower mandible and the Northern Parula has what looks like an injury at the gape on it's left side. Wondering if these challenges have caused these birds to avoid migration. 

Rob Raker

Lakewood, CO

Jefferson County

[Gregg Goodrich]

Thanks to Dave, Bryan, Rob and Jared for their excellent insight on these Neo-tropical migrants ability to survive these cold temps. 5 of us were able to view and photograph the Pine Warbler and the Northern Parula this morning Thursday, December 3, 2020. Both of these warblers were over the beaver dam in the deadfall, so fairly close, low and in good light. There was also an American Pipit on the beaver mound. Joey certainly found a great spot.

Not all bird sightings are in eBird, but it is still a good resource. If you would like to view birds logged on eBird for a certain month, here are the steps. 

At eBird.org click on the Explore menu. Enter the species you are interested in, go down to the range map and in the upper right of the map, select the Large Map to bring up a full screen map. Select the Show Points Sooner button on the right and then enter a Location in the upper right like Denver, CO from the drop down lists. You can click on any of the tear drops to see all sightings for that location. Narrow the search by selecting a date range from the menu. I selected Dec-Dec for all years to see all eBird records for the Northern Parula. Give it a try.

Gregg Goodrich

Highlands Ranch