Small birds are abstaining from frivolous Christmas flights this year, as the animals must conserve all their energy for staying warm and searching for food.
Luckily for them, birdwatchers have laid out Christmas feasts at many feeding spots across the country.
At such a spot in Helsinki’s Lauttasaari, one could see a few small birds supposed to have migrated by now.
Aki Arkiomaa, Director of BirdLife Finland, notes that the brambling and the robin are both fond of the grains on offer here.
“All of Finland is now covered with snow. This is a situation of life and death for birds,” Arkiomaa says, his words backed up by the frenetic activity at the feeding spot behind him.
This is the first brambling that Arkiomaa has observed this winter. Blackbirds, on the other hand, have been plentiful. The birds took to garden trees once snow carpeted the land. According to Arkiomaa, hunger drove the blackbirds from the woods into human habitats.
The sparrow is the most frequent diner at the feeding spot’s sheaf of grain. Indeed, this species is the biggest consumer of doled out bird food in Finland.
Harsh winters reduce populations
Birds have faced many snowy winters in a row, when food is buried under the white powdery stuff and the freezing cold tests their down coats.
Such conditions can cause bird populations to collapse, according to Arkiomaa. However, the populations are quick to recover with more favourable conditions.
Humans can also help. Arkiomaa suggests laying out grains, tallow and some apple for the birds’ Christmas buffet.
When the mercury plunges, small birds seek out shelter in empty bird boxes and different kinds of cavities in nature. Some of them have found resting places under protective hoods of garden lights.
“I’m not sure how tits spend their Christmas time, but I think most of it passes in the search for food,” Arkiomaa says, adding that the foraging is usually carried out in the company of friends, as this bird is not the solitary type.
For the Director of BirdLife Finland, pine grosbeak sightings have been a particular highlight of this winter.
