Where’s the snow? We get most of our snow on average from December 15th to January 15th here in the White Mountains so maybe we just have a few weeks to go. Dry winter weather without the shoveling chores might sound good for the human backs but what about our area wildlife?  

Lack of snow might sound good for wildlife but it depends on what kind of critter you are. It’s obviously much easier for migrating animals like deer and elk to travel through the White Mountains without snow but that means chasing predators like wolves and coyotes don’t have as much of an advantage over their fleeing prey. In deep snow, the predator usually has the advantage. On top of that, grasses, acorns and more access to buds on the branch tips can give the ungulates and turkey populations out there some nutrition that is usually buried under a couple feet of snow.  

But if you are a bug or small mammal, your insulating blanket of snow that usually keeps the frost line at a reasonable and predictable depth is gone and the cold can penetrate much deeper down, freezing burrows and rock piles that usually stay in the 40s. Most animals can sense the cold and can move to a better spot if they have time and if the better spot is not already taken by a bigger and badder neighbor.

And obviously if you are a critter that needs liquid water to survive -- which most of us do here at this elevation, the lack of winter snowfall will inevitably catch up to us. It could be next spring when fish need flowing water to spawn or early summer when the snow-filled ponds are the only water source for miles -- prior to monsoons -- to sustain a new hatch of young turkey poults. And these are just some of the obvious examples of drought impacts. Most critters have reduced survival of the youngest and oldest age classes in times of stress and so the impacts are not as obvious.

The lack of snow cover could explain why some folks are not be seeing as many birds at your feeder, as birds can still find seed heads and other food on the ground. As the weather gets colder, even without snow, your bird feeders should get busier.

Feeding birds is a great Covid-19 era winter activity, even if you have to use feeders in front of different windows in different rooms for someone who is temporarily quarantining. Watching birds at feeders and counting how many different ones visit your “food-wagon” can be a great break from watching TV, surfing the web and even updating your status on Facebook. The nice part is that you just set up one of many types of feeders and let the birds have at them. The birds will use your feeders pretty much all day so you don’t have to get up early for a sunrise or wait for the magical hour around dusk.

Looking for creative ways to integrate school activities into bird watching? You can do what professional biologists do and make a count of how many different birds you see at your feeder in a 5-minute period. If the young ones have trouble distinguishing birds, they can just count total numbers of all birds over a shorter period. Don’t worry about their scientific or common names at first but try to identify them after your count using the internet or a field guide.

Try counting birds at different times of the day. How about in different weather? If you can set up more than one feeder, try different seeds in each feeder and count the customers. You need to write down the results in a table type format and then graph them to makes the results easier to see. What other interesting questions do you think you could answer by just watching the bird feeders?

Many people buy the commercial bird seed with lots of variety of seeds in the mix. Unfortunately, most birds don’t prefer the major component of many of these mixes so you’ll end up with a lot of spilled and uneaten seed left over. Avoid seed mixes with milo (sorghum) rice, flax, golden millet, red millet, buckwheat, and rapeseed.   

Although it’s more expensive per pound, black-oil sunflower seeds will attract many different types of birds and provides valuable calories in the oily seeds. Thistle or Nyjer seeds are also relatively spendy, but their small size and high energy yields also attract flocks of appreciative feathered friends. And these seeds are sterilized (and not even real thistles) so you don’t have to worry about inadvertently planting a bunch of invasive plants. Peanuts, cracked corn, fruits and suet cakes will guarantee a variety of avian visitors.

The type of seed you want to feed usually determines the type of feeder that works best. Some feeders have interchangeable spouts that allow the use of different sized seeds without the small ones spilling out or the larger seeds getting stuck in the spout. These are the upright type feeders that can be hung in a manner to make them squirrel resistant.

Platform feeders are the easiest to use and even make, as just a flat piece of plywood works if it is elevated off of the ground a few feet (to make it harder for cats to kill birds at the feeder). Raised edges on the platforms can keep most of the seed on the platform instead of sliding off but all feeders will spill and provide food on the ground for maybe some unwanted critters like javelina, deer or elk.

All feeders need to be maintained -- which is mostly keeping filled -- but also may require a quick wash with warm water indoors if the feeder becomes soiled from lots of bird use. Winter usually doesn’t pose a problem with bacteria at the feeder if it stays cold. Dirty summer feeders can cause mass die-offs.

The biggest -- at least most surprising -- cause of mortality for songbirds at your feeder is probably not infections or diseases. Rather, it is the act of Mother Nature moving energy from one trophic level to a higher one. This transformation manifests itself as an instantaneous cloud of feathers produced when a Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned hawk makes a successful (biased viewpoint!) strafing run over your feeder. The seeds you fed the juncos and jays this morning are transformed before your very eyes on the original flat screen TV, your picture window, into flesh and bones of a hawk!

Everybody needs to get out of the house eventually though, so is it safe to go out to one of the area lakes and see how many different types of ducks and geese we can find? Absolutely, if you take the advice of health officials in getting to your spot. Area lakes accessible in the winter that host waterfowl include Rainbow, Show Low, Fools Hollow and Becker. At some of these spots, you can even view the birds with binoculars or spotting scopes from the comfort of your vehicle! You’ll need a window mount adaptor or a tripod if you want to use a spotting scope. And they even make adaptors for your smart phone so you can take photos and videos for later viewing and identification. Sounds like a couple of good holiday giving ideas? You’ll see more wildlife if you hike away from your vehicle though.

So, with a feeder or two (or three!) set outside a window, working and isolating at home might not be as painful. Observing, recording and examining which birds use which feeders could provide a budding biologist with an impressive independent school study project and report. Or just another way to cope with our crazy times!