Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Red in Tooth and Claw


I don’t have any pictures, but I can’t get the vision out of my mind—a solitary bluebird huddled in the snow, head tucked into breast, feathers fluffed, shivering. I thought I was watching adaptation, but I later realized I was probably witnessing the process of dying. Birds do use all of the mechanisms I saw in order to maintain and raise body temperature, but shivering is only a temporary solution, taking an inordinate amount of energy. This unsheltered bluebird had few remaining resources as the temperatures dropped that night.

The next day, after the final night of the storm, I found two dead birds, and my friends reported others. Initially, I thought the cold caused the mortality, but slowly I realized that these birds died primarily of starvation. Because the insects they eat became inactive, the birds lacked the energy they needed to survive.

My favorite Website about birds, that I'm always citing, reports that even hummingbirds can survive freezing temperatures as long as there is food available. Spring may appear to be a season of abundance, but especially in a climate like Colorado’s, where drastic fluctuations in weather occur, it remains important to leave out birdfeeders while energy requirements are high and food can be scarce. 

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