BIRD FEEDER continued from 48
consume poison ivy, spicebush, and dogwood berries, and pluck seeds from goldenrod, ragweed, and sumac. In winter, they switch over to half-animal, half-plant foods. They can visit the cones of evergreens, especially eastern hemlock, and they’ ll eat the frozen, sweet sap from the tips of broken sugar maple branches.
They store foods— insect bodies— in crevices of tree bark. To increase survival, they flock with others. It seems you never see them without white-breasted nuthatches and downy woodpeckers. Woodpecker holes can act as overnight refuges where they can collectively conserve body heat. The habit of sharing in the search for food aids in the chance for survival.
How often and how far do chickadees travel to feed? One winter study in Wisconsin involved feeding 348 wild chickadees( all banded) on black oil sunflower seeds. The researchers estimated the average bird took 30 to 40 seeds a day regardless of weather, traveled less than one-half kilometer(~ 1640 feet) from perch to feeder, arrived three hours after sunrise and departed two hours before sunset. Surprisingly, researchers found that the birds got only about one-fifth of their daily food energy requirement from feeders. The bulk of their nutrition came from foraging on usual winter fare: wild seeds, insects stored in tree bark, and insect egg cases.
Normally, wild birds have to forage widely in winter and they can never be sure any given location will yield food reliably. Since missing a meal in winter is serious business, it might be in the best interest of chickadees, and other winter birds, to stay in the habit of moving on to other feeding sites. Recent studies suggest that some chicks do have a marked preference for“ low risk” foods supplied at our feeders. I suppose this means that we should keep the feeders wellfilled at all times. But winter birds are inherently resourceful, well-steeped after millennia in the act of survival. If I fail to fill my feeders daily, I don’ t believe it will cause more than a momentary stressful event.
As I sip my morning coffee I do see them in full winter plumage, surviving the cold temps, and stopping by to grab a bite. •
Stuff a
December 3, 2016 11 am- 5 pm Ticket Prices: Online Presale $ 20 Day of Event $ 25
Children will visit participating businesses in downtown Nashville, Indiana to fill their commemorative Christmas Stocking with treats ranging from candy, toys, ornaments, etc.
Stocking
Nashville, Indiana
presented by
For more information & Tickets contact: Brown County Community Foundation 812-988-4882 www. browncountygives. org
SCHOOLHOUSE continued from 40
Not giving in to the threats, the teacher was about to be soaked in the stream, when a more serious citizen stepped to his aid. The intervention caused the teacher to reconsider, and soon the entire crowd of students, parents, and teacher proceeded to the general store. There the teacher purchased Christmas treats of candy and apples for everyone.
In Morgan County another teacher was similarly barred from his schoolhouse by the older teenage boys. His story ends on a different note since this teacher instead headed to the local store where he purchased a gallon jug of whiskey. The older boys readily admitted him upon his return, and accepted the plenteous“ treats” poured for them. Years later, one of the boys shared the memory of staggering home at the end of the day. His father promptly gave the son“ a dressing that he remembers to the present.”
Nashville now twinkles like a fairyland with lights, ornaments, and sounds during the Christmas season, which lasts for many days. And teachers no longer expect students lying in wait for them on the morning of December 25. No one thinks of lessons till after New Year celebrations. •
52 Our Brown County Nov./ Dec. 2016