In late morning on a bitterly cold day this week, with the outside temperature at 26 degrees, I heard the unmistakable “teakettle, teakettle” song of a Carolina wren from somewhere in my yard in Decatur.
The little bird’s singing on a dreary winter day, amid the gloom and doom of the news on TV, was what I needed to help lift my spirits. The mini-concert seemed heaven sent.
The jaunty Carolina wren is one of few songbird species in Georgia that sing in the dead of winter. Other cold weather singers include cardinals, song sparrows and white-throated sparrows (winter-only birds in Georgia.) Why these particular birds sing at this time of year is not fully understood.
Other Georgia songbirds are mostly silent during the coldest part of winter — although they may continue to communicate through alarms and calls that consist of chirps, buzzes and hisses. During fall and winter, songbirds don’t need to sing to establish a breeding territory or attract a mate. Most birds can’t sing in deep winter anyway — the part of their brains used for singing shrinks, rendering them unable to give voice to song.
But Carolina wrens, common across Georgia, apparently don’t know the difference between summer and winter — or between day and night. They may sing at any time of day, rain or shine, cloudy or clear. Their loud, repetitious song most often sounds something like tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle tea, a joyful sound on a frigid winter morning.
Another common backyard bird that sings year-round is the song sparrow. Hearing one at dawn on a freezing January morning is not uncommon. Male cardinals begin singing their whistled songs around mid-January. As the amount of daylight increases each day, their singing will become more frequent.
The white-throated sparrow, abundant in Georgia right now, also sings its “Old Peabody, Peabody, Peabody” song on cold days. It is in Georgia only in winter and migrates in spring back to nesting grounds up north.
In another month or so, with the song control center of their brains enlarging again, more birds — mockingbirds, robins, bluebirds and others — will start singing.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be new on Wednesday. Venus and Saturn are in the west at sunset and set about two hours later. Mars and Jupiter are in the east at sunset.
Charles Seabrook can be reached at charles.seabrook@yahoo.com.
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