Jan. 15, 2025

Winter Wings

Show Notes
Transcript

A celebration of winter's hardy birds, from cardinals to chickadees, examining how these feathered friends create community, share resources, and bring color and song to the coldest days.

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WEBVTT

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Ah Calarugashock Media. I'm Olivia, and today on five Minutes

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of Gratitude, we're exploring the hardy birds that share our

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winter world, and before we begin, if you'd like to

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receive these gratitude moments without interruption, there's a link in

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our show notes to learn about our commercial free version.

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This morning's first sound wasn't my alarm, but the clear

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piercing call of a cardinal outside my window. Against the

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pearl gray dawn, His red feathers looked almost impossible, like

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a flower blooming in snow. These winter birds, I've realized,

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aren't just survivors. They're teachers in the art of finding

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brightness in the coldest days. My neighbor, mister Chen, who's

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been feeding birds for forty years, taught me something fascinating

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about winter bird behavior. Watch how they gather, he told me,

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pointing to a cluster of chickadee sharing his feeder. Summer

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birds compete, but winter birds cooperate. They know survival means

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looking out for each other. Now I notice how they

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seem to take turns, how the larger birds often wait,

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How they have an unspoken choreography of sharing. The winter

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bird feeders in our neighborhood have created their own kind

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of social network, not just for birds, but for people.

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Missus Rodriguez keeps a detailed journal of every species that

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visits her yard. The Wilson twins compete to see whose

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feeder attracts the most varieties. Even teenage Katie, usually glued

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to her phone, has started photographing what she calls her

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winter wing collection, beautiful shots of birds against snow. Yesterday,

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I watched a downy woodpecker work its way up our

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old maple tree, tapping out its winter morse code. They're

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like winter's percussion section, my daughter said, and she's right.

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Each bird brings its own music to the season. The

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chickadee's cheerful ddd, the nuthatches nasal pronounce me, the blue

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jays brassy declarations. Together they create winter soundtrack, reminding us

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that even the coldest day's pulse with life. Our local

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nature center started what they call winter wing Walks, early

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morning bird watching sessions led by retired ornithologists doctor Sarah Martinez.

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Winter is actually the best time to start bird watching,

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she explains. The leaves are gone, making birds easier to spot,

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and those who stay through winter tend to be bolder,

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coming closer to observe us as much as we observe them.

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Last week, she helped us spot a barred owl, silent

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as snow itself, watching us from a bare oak branch.

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I've started noticing how different birds have different relationships with

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winter weather. The junkos seem to delight in it, hopping

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through snow like it's their personal playground. Crows appear more serious,

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methodically caching food for later, and the tiny golden crowned

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kinglets barely bigger than my thumb, somehow maintain their perpetual

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energy despite the cold. Each species has its own wisdom

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about surviving the season. The bird bath has become the

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heart of our winter garden. My husband Mike rigged a

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small heater to keep it from freezing, and now it's

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like a tiny winter spa. We've seen everything from robins

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to ravens stop by, creating moments of truce as different

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species share the precious liquid water. It's better than television,

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my son says, and he's right. These small dramas of

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survival and cooperation unfold like nature's own reality show. Even

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city birds seem different in winter. Emma, who works downtown

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tells me about the pigeons who've learned to ride the

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warm air currents from subway vents, creating spiral dances against

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steel and glass buildings. The sparrows who've made homes in

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holiday wreaths still hanging on office doors. The gulls who

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follow the salt trucks like their fishing boats, turning winter

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street maintenance into their own kind of feeding ground. Our

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local elementary school has started a winter Bird Buddy program,

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where each class adopts a bird species to study through

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the cold months. Miss Thompson's third graders chose chickadees, and

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now they measure success by how many they can name individually.

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That's scruffy, they'll tell you, proudly, pointing to a particularly

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disheveled looking regular. He always takes two sunflower seeds at once.

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More in a moment, Today's affirmation is winter birds remind

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me that joy can take flight in any season. Take

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a moment to let these words settle in your heart.

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Like our feathered friends, we too can find ways to

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not just endure winter, but to discover its hidden gifts.

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Every cardinal's flash of red, every chickadee's cheerful call. Every

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woodpecker's drum solo is a reminder that life continues to

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celebrate even in the coldest times. Consider how these winter

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birds model resilience for us. They don't fight against the season,

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they adapt to it. They find ways to turn limitations

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into opportunities, create community when times are lean, share resources

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when they become scarce. Their presence reminds us that staying

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open to joy is itself a form of wisdom. Remember

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that each bird who visits your winter world brings a

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message of hope. They show us that brightness can persist

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in the darkest season, that music can fill the coldest air,

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that life continues to dance even when the world seems frozen.

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Every wing beat against winter sky is a testament to

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the persistence of joy. Let's say our affirmation together one

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more time. Winter birds remind me that joy can take

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flight in any season. Thank you for sharing these winter

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wings with me today. Until next time, may your heart

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be full of gratitude and your skies full of feathered friends.

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M

Winter Wings

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