The record setting cold wave with snow, ice and sleet is finally dissipating. Nightly temperatures are above freezing and the last of the icy roadways have thawed so drivers need not worry about slippery pavement.
During the worst of the blizzard, residents of panhandle Florida were wisely advised by government officials to stay home and not to venture out on the roadways. These recommendations were followed by most, but a few cavalier drivers did end up with dented vehicles or stuck roadside in slushy snow and mud.
For those with stocked refrigerators, the inconvenience of being “snowed in” was minor. For residents without enough food or the right culinary tool, the icy isolation quickly became a crisis (especially if kids were involved).
The local birds, as well as the migratory avians, experience the same dietary challenge, only without the possibility of having a well-stocked and secure larder. The cold white snow obscured most of the potential meals.
While it is true these feathered friends peck away at their food, they do not eat like the proverbial birds who are criticized for their picky eating habits. If human consumption proportions were comparable to birds, then everyone would be spending a lot more at the grocery store.
It may not look very appetizing, but a shriveled sparkleberry is sometimes the only option for a bird in January to get nutrition down its throat. The native fruit, which is related to the blueberry, can still be found hanging on small trees. With a bird’s active life and high calorie demands, the dried-up tidbit is important.
Fortunately for the birds, there are still a few options provided by plants. One of those is sparkleberries, a native plant in the blueberry family.
In late January the supplies of these small berries are diminished, but some are still available and hanging on the plants. Most are shriveled and dehydrated but are still edible by the birds.
Sparkleberries grow into small trees with twisted and intertwined branches which still have leaves. The structure offers birds a protected place to dine and not be threatened by rat snakes.
In the warmer seasons, rat snakes climb into the branches hunting birds. In the colder months, the snakes are too sluggish to hunt and are tucked away in protected sites.
Local crabapple trees also offer the possibility of a meal. These natives may have a few of their fruit dried, but still hanging from the limbs.
Smilax berries’ bright red coloration is in stark contrast to most of midwinter’s muted tones. The attractive shade is easily noticed by birds and other animals.
If lucky enough to pick a dried example from the branches, it will likely be taken to a safe spot to break up and consume the flesh and seed. Crabapples are too large, even in their desiccated state, for most birds to gulp down.
The bright red color of two berries is in stark contrast to much of the landscape in midwinter, and birds recognize the tone as an opportunity to eat. Yaupon and smilax both have small spiracle offering available for sampling.
Yaupons are a small evergreen tree with “male and female” plants. Only the females produce berries, but the males outnumber the females about ten to one in the wild.
The tiny yaupon berries are quickly consumed when discovered by migrating flocks, leaving little for residential birds. Those berries which make it to the ground often produce a seedling and result in yaupon thickets.
Smilax, nature’s answer to barbed wire, is a native vine. Several local species of this weed produce clusters of bright red berries.
While the exchange may seem one sided, the plants do benefit from the birds consuming their fruit. Some of the seeds are undigested and deposited some distance from the parent plant.
The birds get a meal and the plants have a change to sprout in new locations. It seems like a fair trade, especially in snowy weather.
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