Wednesday, January 30, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
Flying through
winter
Winter9s hard on wildlife,
just as it is on you and me.
But like you and me, birds
that spend winter with us have
methods they can use to stay
warm and dry, like layers of
clothing that keep us warm.
(The butterfly has built-in
antifreeze.)
Songbirds, quail, water-
fowl and the like also are well
suited (pardon the pun) to
survive winter, with downy
feathers close to their warm
bodies. The down is like
warm woolen long-johns to
us, trapping air close to our
skin keeping in the heat. A
bird9s outside feathers that
prevent cold wind, snow and
rain from reaching their insu-
lating down are like our jack-
ets, overcoats, and wool hats.
I know for sure it is nigh
unto impossible to freeze a
great horned owl to death.
Back in the 1960s, a fellow
called me at Oregon Museum
of Science and Industry to
tell me he had a dead great
horned owl he picked up off
the shoulder of the highway,
and asked what he should do
with it.
He lived just a few miles
from my home in Beaverton,
so I told him to put it in the
freezer and I9d be by to pick
it up as soon as I could. It so
happened that an unexpected
meeting sent me off in his
direction, so I stopped by that
afternoon.
As I walked into his house
I asked if he9d checked the
owl for a band.
<No, I forgot to, but here,=
he said, taking hold of the
freezer door handle, <you
check it and take the owl with
you.=
He opened the door, still
looking at me, and when he
turned his head, he yelped,
<What the&!= and slammed
the door shut. He just stood
there staring at me and said
4 no I can9t tell you what he
said 4 but it was very color-
ful and intimated that owl was
supposed to be dead&
We both peeked in very
carefully as he slowly opened
the freezer door, and sure
enough, the owl was stand-
ing upright, blinking at us.
Yeah, he had a broken wing
and wasn9t very alert, but he
was a living 4 albeit severely
damaged 4 adult male great
horned owl. (I9m sorry to say
he did pitch-it-in later, from
injuries suffered from the
vehicle strike).
From the moment they
hatch 4 late winter and early
spring in most places 4 owls
have a thick coat of down
covering their entire body.
The insulating qualities are
superb at keeping air trapped
in the soft down, maintaining
the owl9s body operating tem-
perature at about 109 degrees.
To say an owl is <hot stuff= is
no exaggeration.
Hummingbirds that choose
to spend winter here instead of
going to Mexico with their kin
4 because people leave their
feeders up 4 use fat to sur-
vive. They can go into a stu-
por for 36 hours without food
or warmth. There are hum-
mingbirds coming to feeders
in Oregon right now that have
survived the cold nights, with
just enough warmth during
the day for them to leave their
shelter, slurp up sugar water
and search for insects.
Wintering birds as a whole
need that same protein and
water, especially. When a
bird attempts to slake its thirst
using their body heat to melt
snow and ice into water it uses
too much energy. Yes, sage
grouse can get away with it,
but robins and most feeder-
birds cannot. They must have
flowing or open water to stay
alive.
Robins can get by on juni-
per berries, old apples and
other fruit, but not without
water. They will go into seri-
ous stress without water 4
the same for the hummers,
goldfinches and other small
birds. Please, keep your water
feature flowing; the colder it
is outside, the more birds need
the water.
Even the migrators have
a tough time of it. As we
have seen, waterbirds of all
kinds crash, sometimes in the
middle of the highway, when
they9re making their night
migratory flights and run into
a weather front. They quickly
run out of fuel, and in the
case of grebes, will usually
die if they can9t find water to
land in. That9s when wildlife
rehabbers like Elise Wolf of
Sisters Country become very
busy trying to heal injuries on
PHOTO BY DICK TIPTON
Saw-whet owl wintering in one of Dick Tipton’s kestrel nesting boxes.
waterbirds and keep them fed
until they have the strength
ROCKIN ROBIN’S
KARAOKE NIGHTS!
FRIDAY • SATURDAY
Prime Rib Fridays 5pm!
JAN
hardtailsoregon.com
Facebook darcymacey
FEB
1
FRI
FEB
2
SAT
FEB
4
MON
Feb. 15 / Fri
Dry Canyon
Stampede
7-piece Country Western
dance band performing
classics to contemporary
with a blend of
rockin’ rhythms &
moving ballads.
Feb. 21-24 / Th-Sun
Sisters
One Acts Play
Mar. 16 / Sat / 8 PM
Tommy Castro
Sisters Saloon Poker Night 7 p.m. Every Wednesday! $20.
For information call 541-549-7427 or go to sisterssaloon.net.
Cork Cellars Tasty Thursday Hosted Wine Tasting
5 to 7 p.m. For additional information call 541-549-2675 or
JAN
go online to corkcellarswinebistro.com.
31
THUR Sisters Saloon Karaoke Night 9 p.m. to midnight. Every
Thursday, no cover! For additional information call
541-549-7427 or go to sisterssaloon.net.
175 N. Larch St.
t.
541-549-6114
and food to go on when the
weather cooperates.
Entertainment & Events
30
WED
HAPPY
HOUR
MON-FRI 4-7pm
Hardtails Bar & Grill Karaoke Night with Rockin Robin
9 p.m. Every Friday, no cover! For additional information call
541-549-6114 or go to hardtailsoregon.com.
Cork Cellars Live Music with Jazz Folks
6:30 to 8:30 p.m. No cover! For information call 541-549-
2675 or go online to corkcellarswinebistro.com.
Hardtails Bar & Grill Karaoke Night with Rockin Robin
9 p.m. Every Saturday, no cover! For additional information
call 541-549-6114 or go to hardtailsoregon.com.
Hardtails Bar & Grill Open Mic & Jam Night 7 p.m.
Every Monday, no cover! For information call 541-549-6114
or go to hardtailsoregon.com.
Sisters Saloon Trivia Night 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sign-up is
5 at 6:15 p.m. Free, every Tuesday! For additional information
TUES call 541-549-7427 or go to sisterssaloon.net.
FEB
FEB
6
WED
Sisters Saloon Poker Night 7 p.m. Every Wednesday! $20.
For information call 541-549-7427 or go to sisterssaloon.net.
Cork Cellars Tasty Thursday Hosted Wine Tasting
5 to 7 p.m. For additional information call 541-549-2675 or
FEB
go online to corkcellarswinebistro.com.
7
THUR Sisters Saloon Karaoke Night 9 p.m. to midnight. Every
Thursday, no cover! For additional information call
541-549-7427 or go to sisterssaloon.net.
FEB
8
FRI
Hardtails Bar & Grill Karaoke Night with Rockin Robin
9 p.m. Every Friday, no cover! For additional information call
541-549-6114 or go to hardtailsoregon.com.
and the
Painkillers
Music that is guaranteed
to fi re up fans
and leave them
screaming for
more!
FEB
9
SAT
Cork Cellars Live Music with Brian Odell and Fiddler
Bob Baker 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. No cover! For information call
541-549-2675 or go online to corkcellarswinebistro.com.
Hardtails Bar & Grill Karaoke Night with Rockin Robin
9 p.m. Every Saturday, no cover! For additional information
call 541-549-6114 or go to hardtailsoregon.com.
Mar. 23 / Sat / 8 PM
The Brian
Odell Band
PUB OPENS 1 HOUR PRIOR TO SHOWS
BelfryEvents.com
541-815-9122
13
FEB
10
SUN
The Suttle Lodge & Boathouse Live Music with Credit
Electric & Afterlife Revival 7 p.m., doors open at 5 p.m.
Tickets $12 in advance/$14 at the door. For additional
information call 541-638-7001 or go to thesuttlelodge.com.
Events Calendar listings are free to advertisers.
Submit items by 5 p.m. Fridays to lisa@nuggetnews.com
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