Campus birds weather winter
Only a few of our avian friends will be around this season
By Callan Bentley
Flat Hat Variety Editor
It seems to me that there might be two kinds of people in the world: bird people and non-bird people. Being one of the latter converted to one of the former, I can say in all honesty that it is better to be a bird person.
Being a bird person doesn't entail much. For me, it simply means that one watches for birds on the way to class, on the way to lunch. One takes pleasure in the activities of these highly visible animals. This simple effort opens a new world to its devotees. It has not only taught me more about birds, but has made me more observant in general.
"It teaches you all about everything," biology graduate student Amanda Allen said. "It makes you more aware… You never know what you'll see."
It is with the goal of spreading this increased awareness that Wild Williamsburg hereby presents the 1003 Winter Guide to Birds on Campus. Keep your eyes peeled in the coming months for these species. Take a minute to watch their behavior. Look for their nests, now unused but visible in the bare trees. Hopefully, you will be impressed enough to start the lifetime habit of bird watching. Once you become a bird person, there's no settling for anything less.
There are several large birds visible on an average trek across campus on an average day. Large flocks of big honking birds, flying in V-shaped formation, are easily seen at this time of year. These are Canada Geese, migrating south for a warmer winter.
If you look up in the sky and see a large bird gliding around solo on the thermals, there are a few possibilities. If the bird is holding its wings upright in a flattened V-shaped posture, then chances are that you are looking at a Turkey Vulture. A Bald Eagle may be discerned by its white head and straight wingspan.
If the bird has a wingspan of only two or three feet, it is likely a hawk. There are two hawks commonly seen in Williamsburg, and their names define their bodies. The Red-Shouldered Hawk has reddish areas on its shoulders. The Red-Tailed Hawk has brown shoulders, but a reddish tail.
If you are very lucky, you might here the Red-Tailed Hawk cry out. The call of this bird is, in all seriousness, the most beautiful sound in the world. If you watch the television series Northern Exposure, you hear this call directly before every episode. Oftentimes it is played during patriotic commercials when you are shown footage of a Bald Eagle flying by. The actual call of our national symbol is a peeping twitter, hardly inspiring when compared to the plaintive, soulful keen of the Red Tail.
Some gulls will visit the campus this winter, too. Mainly there will be Ring-Billed
Gulls. Verify this by watching for the dark stripe running vertically around
their beaks, as if someone had slipped a rubber band on to keep their mandibles
cinched together.
Walking on DOG Street, it is easy to spot our local flock of pigeons. The pigeons used to nest in the attic of Brown Hall, but have recently been evicted. There are two species around: Mourning Doves (smaller, slimmer, and with a point tail) and the domestic pigeon itself, the Rock Dove (which comes in a dozen color varieties).
The statue sitting on its own private island in Crim Dell is a life-size rendition of a Great Blue Heron, another local species. Few real Great Blues will be seen at Crim Dell; Look instead down at Lake Matoaka, as a few will spend the winter there.
Instead of a Great Blue, you might run into a Pileated Woodpecker at Crim Dell. There are at least two of these birds which spend part of their week drilling into the trees there. The Pileated is one of the largest woodpeckers in the world, and certainly the largest in this area. This is the bird after whom Woody Woodpecker was modeled, and once you have seen the large red crest of feathers on its head, there's no mistaking it.
Also hanging around the Dell will be our year-round favorites, the Crim Dell ducks. These are Mallard ducks, like the ones in Make Way For Ducklings, except that these all seem to be males.
Barred Owls move around at dusk in the College Woods and hoot with a call that sounds remarkably like it is asking, "Who…who… who cooks for YOUUU?" These are big birds to see flying silently amid forest tree branches; To see one is an impressive experience.
While large species are most visible as individuals, they are also not as common as some of the medium and smaller sized birds on campus. There are the prolific Cardinals, Robins, and those dark little birds with shiny feathers, the European Starlings.
Also weathering the cold months in the 'Burg are Carolina Chickadees, small brown birds identifiable by their perky tails and edgy movements. Don't confuse these with the White-Breasted Nuthatches, known by their black caps and blue back feathers. The nuthatches cling to trees in sideways and upside-down postures.
The Tufted Titmouse is also a small bird, colored bluish-gray with a white belly, and a smart little tuft of feathers on its head.
There are several smaller species of woodpecker as well, including the Red-Bellied and the Downy. These two may be distinguished by the Red-Bellied's red head feathers (yes, the Red-Bellied Woodpecker has a red head and a white belly!).
Then there are what birders refer to as LBJs: Little Brown Jobs. Mainly these are sparrows, but as bird woman Amanda Allen told me, "Any bird is a good bird."
The Song Sparrow is identifiable by a big dot on its chest. It frequents Holly and Crepe Myrtle trees. The White-Throated Sparrow has (believe it or not) a white throat and a drawn-out high-pitched call sounding similar to a soprano calling out for "Old Sam Peabody, Pea-bo-dee." The House Sparrow has a gray cap on its head and a dark throat. It is an invasive species, and will be the most common sparrow in human-dominated areas.
Finally, the bird on most people's minds during this season is the Wild Turkey. Turkeys, despite the goofiness their name implies, are fascinating fowl. One of my favorite wildlife experiences was that of sitting in Shenandoah National Park with my family watching a flock of 30 or 40 Turkeys crossing the road in the foggy early hours of morning. Though they don't frequent campus much, Turkeys can be found at Waller Mill Pond.
Extend your experience with
birds beyond your Thanksgiving plate, though. The biology department's Center
for Conservation Biology, where Allen works under the tutelage of Drs. Mitchell
Byrd and Bryan Watts, offers numerous opportunities for students to learn about
our avian brethren. Talk to them, request a bird identification book for the
holidays, and try paying a bit of attention to your surroundings on your way
to class.