Vesper Sparrow, Larimer Cty.
Dave Hyde
Hello CObirders,
Perhaps someone can give me some quick advice. At this moment (7 pm) I have a Vesper sparrow sitting in a little seed bowl under a makeshift cover to protect it from the snow. There’s seed in the bowl but it looks pretty miserable. It survived last night – sat in the same spot covered in snow and I was preparing a rescue attempt when some juncos showed up and it flew off. Well, here it is again and its 24 F with light snow. I figure I’ll keep an eye on it and if it nods off I’ll try and bring it in the house and put it in our spare budgie cage. I dunno, anyone have any advice? – Dave Hyde/nr. Storm Mtn.
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Deborah Carstensen
On Apr 16, 2021, at 7:10 PM, Dave Hyde <pink...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Hello CObirders,
Perhaps someone can give me some quick advice. At this moment (7 pm) I have a Vesper sparrow sitting in a little seed bowl under a makeshift cover to protect it from the snow. There’s seed in the bowl but it looks pretty miserable. It survived last night – sat in the same spot covered in snow and I was preparing a rescue attempt when some juncos showed up and it flew off. Well, here it is again and its 24 F with light snow. I figure I’ll keep an eye on it and if it nods off I’ll try and bring it in the house and put it in our spare budgie cage. I dunno, anyone have any advice? – Dave Hyde/nr. Storm Mtn.
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
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Dave Hyde
Thank you, Deborah, for your suggestion and I’ll keep it in mind. Fortunately, this morning the Vesper sparrow is back with the juncos. Still 25 F here with light snow but I can see a patch of blue sky here and there. Warmer weather has to be coming soon! I guess these little birds, like the juncos, are survivors and best not to disturb them unless they are in obvious distress or comatose. I wonder, how do the juncos and other birds like the Mountain chickadees and Pygmy nuthatches make it through a spell of cold weather? Well, all’s well that ends well, as they say, and I’ll just keep an eye on the birds, which is what I do anyway. Thanks again – Dave/nr. Storm Mountain. Larimer Cty.
Willem van Vliet
by Bernd Heinrich (with beautiful illustrations by Megan Bishop. Worth reading.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/how-do-birds-survive-the-winter/#:~:text=Black%2Dcapped%20Chickadees.-,Black%2DCapped%20Chickadees,blocks%20of%20ice%20in%20seconds.To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CY4PR06MB24404BD3003D0CD816C1AB9FF54B9%40CY4PR06MB2440.namprd06.prod.outlook.com.
Dave Hyde
Thank you all for your suggestions and links. I joined the ‘Animal Help Now’ website and note that they have a small animal hospital on W. Eisenhower in Loveland, close to me. I read the link given by Bernd and learned a lot! I had imagined a covey of juncos in the cedar bush out back all huddled together facing outwards with the Vesper sparrow toasty in the middle. And, perhaps I’m not far wrong. But from the article it seems more likely that the juncos would be facing in with their tails pointing out! Thank you all again. The sun is coming out its up to 28 F and a beautiful day - Dave
Dave Hyde
My apologies for getting names wrong. Willem van Vliet sent me to the ‘wintering birds’ article written by Bernd Heinrich - Dave
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