Eating more than Storing in the Cold - UPDATE December 23, 2022
Red squirrel
I’m used to seeing blue jays fill their gular pouches with peanuts and fly off more than a tenth of a mile across Woods Lake, presumably to store them. With the cold that has hit with temperatures as low as minus 26°F, I haven’t seen that. They grab a peanut and find a nearby spot to hold it in its feet like a chickadee does and peck tiny pieces from it till it’s gone—then back for another one. The blue jay pictures show one just starting on a whole peanut that it is holding with both feet, and a blue jay with the last two smidgeons of a peanut—one bit in the tip of its bill and the other bit being held with one claw.
Blue jay w/Peanut
Blue jay w/Peanut
Blue jay
Blue jay
Grackles do it differently and are far less efficient. They hold a peanut in the bill and work on it, flaking off pieces that sometimes are swallowed and sometimes drop away until the peanut is whittled down to a size it can easily swallow. Seeing that, I’ll make sure there are always sunflower hearts out in case those are easier for the grackle to ingest in this cold weather when calories count. The grackle also seems more sensitive to the cold, being reluctant to stand on both feet. No wonder all its flock-mates headed south a month or two ago.Grackle with Peanut
Grackle with Peanut
Overlooking it all was a red squirrel balancing skillfully on a thin branch.
No fox or fisher here in this cold. I suspect they’re curled up. Deer have clumps of snow on their heads from tucking them in to product the muzzle and perhaps breathe warmer air like bears do in dens.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
