For the birds: Which Bird Will Be Your 2016 Special Bird?

Varied Thrush, male, winter visitor

Text and Photos by Christine Southwick

The first bird that you see, or hear, the morning of the New Year is your special bird for 2016.

Wintertime will present some birds like the vivid Varied Thrush and the camouflaged Fox Sparrow, and eliminate the summer birds like most of our warblers and finches.

So, what will it be?

male Spotted Towhee surveying his territory

Will it be a glorious male Spotted Towhee surveying your backyard?

It could be a local woodpecker— Downy, Hairy, Pileated,  Northern Flicker, or  even a Red-breasted Sapsucker;

Or a Red-breasted Nuthatch with its miniature tin-horn calls and its headfirst seed-snatchings.

 Maybe it will be a large Barred-Owl, or a small eight-inch Saw-whet Owl, swooping almost silently low above the ground?

Or perhaps even a majestic, impressive, Bald-Eagle flying high over your head?

Hairy Woodpecker, male (red on back of head)

You might see a bird that is far adrift from its normal habitat, like the southern-based Yellow-throated Warbler that has flown from eastern Texas and beyond, which has recently been seen on the Washington coast,  or a shorter-distance traveler like the  Common Redpoll from the Canadian boreal forests.

Of course it could be an everyday bird like our resident Song Sparrow, and chickadees. These birds are true northwest birds.

Is your bird a wanderer or a homebody? Is it a social and demonstrative bird like the American Crow? Does it mingle with other species like Downy Woodpeckers in the winter?  Does it stick with its own species only like Bushtits, or is it solitary, like Common Raven? Does it mate for life; is it seasonally monogamous, or poly-amorous?

Red-breasted Nuthatch getting seed its way

Whichever bird it is, become familiar with its habits.  Think of it as your guiding bird-familiar for the year.

What could that mean for you for 2016?  Maybe you’ll be standing on your head much of 2016…

Birding can be as fun as you make it.