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Silent Spring -- Kinglets



Carolinabirds has not discussed the potentially tragic impact that 3
weeks of snow, ice, and very cold weather has had on local birds.
Obviously, we like to write about the good things -- albatrosses, Le
Conte's Sparrows, Black-tailed Gulls, etc.

But -- the impact in the Triangle was great. I have yet to find a
kinglet of either species on three 1-2 hour walks through woods at
Umstead State Park or Jordan Lake the past 3 weekends. These areas had
plenty of kinglets before the storms, which began in earnest in
mid-January. Normally, kinglets would be common now, and would be
singing on these warm days.

I suspect most of the singing Pine Warblers at Umstead this weekend are
recent arrivals from Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina. That many
would not have been at Umstead all winter or survived such weather. I
also assume that a large number of various wrens and other warblers
succumbed, as well. I would guess that we lost 75% or more of the
kinglets, at least in the Triangle.

Before everyone starts jumping in with "I saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet"
yesterday, it would be good to limit discussion only where folks have
made REPEATED trips to sites with BEFORE AND AFTER information, where
they can be fairly sure about changes in populations. If you went to a
site this weekend and saw a bunch of kinglets, but didn't go to that
site before the storms, that wouldn't tell us much. Plus, I doubt there
was too much mortality in parts of South Carolina or eastern NC where
there wasn't the 5 consecutive bouts of ice or snow.

But -- Umstead had Pine Warblers singing everywhere, chickadees,
titmice, woodpeckers -- but no kinglets. The same thing happened around
1977 at Clemson. I tallied 10-20 each of both kinglets on a set route
before severe weather, and 0-2 per trip after 3+ weeks of brutal cold.
That is roughly 90% mortality.

Twenty inches of snow, ice-covered limbs, etc., does take a major toll
on birds, especially on those that feed on insects. It might take 2
years or more for populations to recover. Time will tell.

Harry LeGrand

--
Harry E. LeGrand, Jr.
N.C. Natural Heritage Program
Division of Parks and Recreation
1615 MSC
Raleigh, NC 27699-1615

Office: (919) 715-8687
Home: (919) 832-3202
FAX: (919) 715-3085
e-mail: harry.legrand@ncmail.net
http://ncsparks.net/nhp