Early birds get the mate
February 2, 2020 — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s North Atlantic-Appalachian region celebrated Groundhog Day by interviewing Connecticut Audubon Executive Director Patrick Comins about actual signs that spring is on its way. Their blog post, published this morning, is here. We thank them for permission to use it on Natural Selections. Enjoy, puns and all!
Many Great Horned Owls are sitting on nests already. Listen at dusk and dawn for males and females hooting to each other. Photo by Tomas Koeck
by Bridget Macdonald, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
On February 2nd, many of us look to a stocky rodent in Pennsylvania to forecast the coming of spring.
Birders, however, look up.
“For birds, the days are getting longer, and it’s time to court,” explained Patrick Comins, executive director of the Connecticut Audubon Society. In fact, he’s been seeing, and hearing, the signs for a few weeks.
One morning in mid-January, Comins heard herring gulls as they flew over his house.
“Just from the calls, I could tell it was courtship behavior,” said Comins, explaining that males make a distinctive sound as they chase females around in the sky.
“I thought: Spring is coming.”
So you could wake up early to get the spring forecast from Punxsutawney Phil, who has been making his “predictions” since 1887 and is usually wrong (though you can’t deny he looks good for 134).
Or you can get outside to look and listen for these signs that spring is already on its way:
Owl always love you: The great horned owl is one of the earliest harbingers of spring. “Great horned owl courtship is well underway, and in fact, some of those owls are probably sitting on eggs,” Comins said.
That’s because nestlings need lots of time to bulk up. In a matter of months they will transform from tiny owlets, weighing less than one tenth of a pound, to huge predators weighing more than three pounds. Adults are most vocal in the winter months leading up to nesting season, so now is a good time to listen for duets of female and male owls at dusk.
Hawk could I live without you: Red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks also begin courting and nest building in midwinter. Sure signs that love is in the air include acrobatic flights, dives, and piercing screams. Yikes.
As the days get longer, Hairy Woodpeckers and other woodpeckers will start to drum more and more.
Wood-you-be-mine: The drumming of woodpeckers in winter is a noisy proclamation to other woodpeckers: “This is my turf! Who would like to be my mate?” After a few trials, we’ve concluded this approach does not work as well for people.
All atwitter: You’ll hear a number of other birds begin singing in mid-winter for some romantic attention, including tufted titmouse, chickadee, and cardinal. “If you see big numbers of robins foraging on the ground, then that’s also a harbinger of spring,” Comins said.
Love hurts: American woodcock begin to return from their wintering grounds in the southeast to northern states in mid-February — taking a big gamble for reproduction. Comins explained they would rather get to prime nesting habitat early, even it means facing freezing weather, than risk a more dominant woodcock beating them to it.
“For woodcock, reproduction is more important than survival,” he said. “For that reason they are a vanguard species for springtime.”
Move over, Cupid
We can’t write off groundhogs —also known as woodchucks, whistlepigs, Canada marmot, red monk, and “Get out of my garden!!” — entirely as symbols of spring. Phil and other male groundhogs really do emerge (briefly) in mid-winter. But not to look for their shadows: to look for female groundhogs.
The authors of a 2003 study on temperature fluctuations and energetic strategies of eastern woodchucks explain, “The earliest possible emergence from hibernation may be critical for males because reproductive success is dependent on their ability to establish territories, locate females, and complete spermatogenesis before females emerge.”
Male American Woodcock will risk dangerous weather in February in order to reach and claim prime breeding grounds first. Phil Brown photo.
Although male groundhogs lose stored energy by coming in and out of hibernation during the coldest time of year, they stand to gain in the long run: “…the higher cost of hibernation for males may result in substantial fitness payoffs as they emerge from hibernation physiologically ready to locate females and to mate.”
I know what you’re wondering: Do they leave heart-shaped candies at the entrances of females’ burrows with messages like “I Dig You,” “Groundhugs,” and “Text Me”? The study didn’t cover that, so we’re left to assume, probably.
Regardless, have no fear: Groundhogs don’t retreat back into their burrows in February because they are scared of their shadows, or of an endless winter. They are just really tired.
And much like great horned owls, red-tailed hawks, and woodcocks, the sudden appearance of these rodents is reassurance that spring is approaching. But so is Valentine’s Day. Heads up.
