Saturday, December 12, 2009

drinking snow

Did you mother ever tell you not to drink snow? Well, apparently their mothers did not tell these birds… These hardy birds presumably don’t have to worry too much about lowering their body’s core temperature by taking a little snow, and if your diet is dry like seeds (or the fruit you’ve been eating is dry and shriveled) then a little water is very important to aid digestion...

Cedar Waxwing




Red Crossbill - female


Red Crossbill - male



Ruffed Grouse




These Red Crossbills and Ruffed Grouse are both drinking snow that has accumulated on a branch and has perhaps been compacted or melted a little and refrozen to ice, in which case it will have more water content that powdered snow…

1 comment:

  1. Very impressive blog! You take great photos.
    My nature blog is at http://wildaboutwhidbey.blogspot.com
    I write about other things besides nature,though. You might enjoy my tags on birdwatching, marine life, etc.

    ReplyDelete

 
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