I usually consider the cute little junco a harbinger of doom when he first arrives in late fall. The dark-eyed junco is a winter bird, a sign there's no turning back. But as winter settles in, my attitude softens. Small birds with that sweet-little-bird silhouette, the junco is nattily attired in charcoal gray with a white breast. They seem to be perpetually puffed up against the cold, giving them that slightly rounded shape.
(I made an exception to providing photos other than my own, just this once)
They flit about and flash their white striped tail as they fly from feeder to ground. They are birds of the ground; woodland birds that prefer the forest floor. However yesterday I saw them causing a ruckus in the joe-pye weed. Later when I stepped out I saw they had shattered the withered flower heads and scattered the seeds over the snow. Their little tracks marked the icy crust from where they fed.
Seed-heads of Joe Pye Weed (The Garden Buzz)
You see, the snow is deep. And there's still more winter to come. The snow cover makes it difficult for all animals to find food. The other day we watched a red fox lope and sink through the snow when not supported by the ice-stiffened surface. The going is hard. While the juncos are not endangered birds, they and all birds this time of year, still struggle to find seeds not hidden by the snow. By now most gardeners with a nod to the birds leave up seedheads over winter, indeed it is now you see the value in this practice.
Black-eyed Susan's in the snow (The Garden Buzz)
This stand of black-eyed Susan's could be covered with just a few more snowfalls. So maybe it's time to think about planting some taller perennials for next year's late winter habitat. Tall perennials lend architecture and variety as well as wildlife support to herbaceous plantings; think Russian sage, bee balm, Rudbeckia "Herbstsonne", Baptisia (false indigo), New England aster, boltonia, coneflowers and globe thistle. For shadier spots, use cimicifugia (snakeroot), meadow rue, ligularia and larger astilbes.
As a side note, I'm not a bird-watcher but I watch birds. In doing a little research I found this great site. Maybe you know about it already and I'm just now finding it. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has beautiful photos, concise information and best of all birdsong! A recording of each bird is available with all the other facts about habitat, migration patterns and concern status. I encourage you to visit it for a little color and flutter while we wait for spring.