I was in Granite Basin earlier this week, and boy was I surprised by the avian find I stumbled across! I was walking through an area with relatively low brush—more of a chaparral habitat than a ponderosa habitat. The brush was thick, and I had limited sight distance.
I heard a noise ahead of me, and when I came through a narrow spot in the brush, I saw five domesticated chickens! They acted really tame and seemed very happy to see me. Who knows how long they had been out in the wild, but they were fearless and came right up to me.
I was so surprised to see them, and then the thought came to me that I should take a picture of them to put in my column this week. I have no way of knowing whether they were dumped there or if they wandered away from someone’s property. Either way, they were a very long way from any property where someone may have been keeping them.
Our brief encounter left me wondering how they could possibly survive being out in the wild with so many potential predators—especially coyotes and bobcats. I made no attempt to “rescue” them, so after talking to them for a minute or two, I continued on my way. It would be interesting, as Paul Harvey used to say, to know “the rest of the story.”
Today is officially the first day of winter. It is interesting to reflect upon the difference in day length we experience between the longest day of the year and the shortest day of the year. At our latitude, when the Summer Solstice occurs, we have fourteen hours and twenty-eight minutes of sunlight.
In summer, there is an abundance of food available to wild birds—insects, seeds, berries and nectar—and plenty of daylight hours to forage for food. Because food availability peaks this time of year, this is when breeding season occurs for wild birds in North America.
Contrasting this to winter solstice, we have only nine hours and fifty minutes of sunlight. How do shorter days affect wild birds wintering here in the Arizona Central Highlands? The first obvious difference is that birds in winter have far less time to actively forage for food—specifically, four hours and thirty-eight minutes less daylight!
Additionally, long, cold winter nights increase the caloric demand for wild birds. As warm-blooded creatures, wild birds need to maintain a constant body temperature in excess of one hundred degrees. The temperature gradient between their body temperature and the actual temperature outside could be as much as eighty degrees—or more!
Needless-to-say, wild birds need a lot of fuel to stay warm in winter on long, dark, cold nights. With a shorter amount of time to forage for food before nightfall sets in, they basically need to feed all day just to make it through the night.
I have to admit that I’m glad I’m not a bird; although I do think it would be really cool to be able to fly!
As we celebrate Christmas this coming week, I extend to you my appreciation for your friendship and for your support of our business. Over the twenty plus years we have been in business, I have developed so many friendships that I treasure and value.
I look forward to the adventures that lie ahead in the new year. I feel so blessed that our business is doing well in our new location. I am so grateful for the blessings we enjoy.
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find a Hallmark Gold Crown Store, wild bird products, and Vortex and Swarovski optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.
