10 Birds That Spend Their Winters in Georgia

While many birds migrate to Central and South America or the Caribbean in the course of the winter, there are many birds that spend their winters in Georgia. The birds that stay in Georgia year-round are sometimes essentially the most recognizable within the space, and it’s not exhausting to search out them. 

You can scope out a nice variety in your yard or enterprise into nature to hunt out some others. Sometimes you’ll even see birds that spend their winters in Georgia whereas walking round city or visiting native areas. Depending in your location throughout the state, you’ll see among the following birds throughout winter in Georgia: 

1. Carolina Chickadee

These birds are tiny, rising to solely 3.9-4.7 inches lengthy, with spherical black and grey our bodies. They have a black cap that stands out in stark distinction to their white cheeks.   

Carolina chickadees favor to stay in forested areas but in addition don’t thoughts backyards and parks. They are likely to dart forwards and backwards from fowl feeders to cowl, persevering with till they’re completed consuming. 

2. Chipping Sparrow

These long-tailed birds have grey bellies and black and brown streaks on their again. Chipping sparrows have a rust-colored crown and a black line on their face that goes by means of their eyes. Their colours are extra outlined in the course of the summer time and loosen up in the course of the winter. 

When you’re in search of a chipping sparrow, look in small flocks on open floor. They additionally come into backyards usually, looking for birdseed. Since these birds favor being on the bottom, they’ll usually choose up any birdseed spilled beneath the feeder.  

3. Northern Cardinal

Male Northern Cardinals are vivid pink, together with on their crest and beak, and have black round their faces. Females are brown with pink highlights, they usually have pink beaks. Northern Cardinals eat fruit, seeds, and bugs, they usually sometimes discover their meals in dense vegetation.  

4. Tufted Titmouse

These birds have grey backs and feathers, a white entrance, a grey chest, and enormous black eyes. A tufted titmouse flocks with different birds, together with nuthatches, chickadees, and woodpeckers, so it may be exhausting to identify when it’s on the transfer.   

You can discover them in parks, backyards, and woodlands, so be aware for those who’re in search of them whilst you’re out and about. They’ll usually push smaller birds out of their approach to get meals.  

They eat bugs in summer time and nuts, berries, and seeds the remainder of the yr. Tufted Titmice additionally love yard fowl feeders, so fill yours up if you wish to see them by means of your window.  

5. Downy Woodpecker

Downy woodpeckers are the smallest woodpecker species in North America, solely rising as much as 6.7 inches lengthy. They have white spots on their black wings, and also you’ll additionally discover white underbodies and striped black and white heads. Male downy woodpeckers even have a pink spot on the again of their heads whereas females don’t develop this attribute. 

You can discover downy woodpeckers in wooded tons, metropolis parks, backyards, and close to streams. They favor consuming beetle larvae and bugs however may also accept acorns, grains, and berries, particularly throughout winter.  

6. Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpeckers seem like red-headed woodpeckers however are a lot smaller. The males have a pink cap, which ends up in the frequent mix-up. However, feminine red-bellied woodpeckers don’t have the pink cap and have pink towards the again of their heads as an alternative.  

Red-bellied woodpeckers have a grey and black physique and black and white markings throughout their again. Their pink stomach is typically exhausting to identify, however it’s there.   

They eat bugs, seeds, nuts, fruit, and sometimes nestlings. If you’re in search of them, they nest in lifeless bushes and keep of their location yearly. Once you discover their nest, it’ll doubtless be there within the following years, too, so long as it’s undisturbed. 

7. Brown-Headed Nuthatch

This tiny songbird solely grows as much as 5 inches lengthy and has grey on its again, a brown cap on its head, and a white stomach and throat. Brown-headed nuthatches even have a chisel-shaped black beak.  

If you need to see a brown-headed nuthatch, observe lifeless bushes, the place they create nests in holes or cavities. They stay in pine forests and eat seeds and bugs, hanging the wrong way up and hopping round when in search of meals. They’ll additionally come into your yard for those who put out fowl seed with sunflower seeds, nuts, and suet.  

8. Blue Jay

A Blue Jay can develop as much as 11.8 inches lengthy, making it larger than most others within the space. It has a blue and black again, a white underside, and a blue crest. These birds are noisy and journey in teams, they usually usually raid different nests and eat different birds’ eggs.  

You can discover Blue Jays close to oak bushes in forests as a result of they eat acorns, bugs, nuts, grain, and seeds. They typically seem in backyards close to fowl feeders, relying on the kind of meals you fill them with. Blue Jays are territorial and unafraid to chase competitors away whereas hoarding meals as an alternative of leaving some for others. 

9. Brown Thrasher

Brown Thrashers are brown songbirds with a streaked stomach, yellow eyes, and black beak. They sometimes dig by means of sticks and leaves to search out bugs for meals. These birds additionally would possibly choose up seeds from the bottom however don’t normally go on birdfeeders.   

Brown Thrashers are the official state fowl of Georgia and stay in forests or different areas of heavy vegetation. You would possibly see them on the outskirts of the woods or in dense shrubbery the place they will seek for what they want. They are defensive of their territory, and it’s common for them to attack individuals who get near their nest.  

10. Northern Mockingbird

Mockingbirds can sing songs of different fowl species, which is likely one of the causes they’ve the title. Northern Mockingbirds are grey and white with lengthy tail feathers, standing out amongst different birds. They favor dwelling in tall bushes and don’t take pleasure in intruding birds coming into their house.  

You gained’t usually see Northern Mockingbirds at your fowl feeders, though they frequent backyards. Instead, they’re drawn to yards with fruit bushes and fowl baths.  

Best Places to See Birds That Spend Their Winters in Georgia  

There are many excellent places to identify winter birds in Georgia. Goizueta Gardens is a registered wildlife sanctuary and hotspot for birding fans. It’s within the Atlanta History Center, so that you’ll have to pay admission to get in.  

There are many birding trails to discover, or you may be part of the Georgia Audubon Society for workshops, occasions, birding excursions, meetups, and discipline journeys. Birding hotspots in Georgia might be discovered all through the state, together with on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.  

Another unimaginable place to see birds is on Georgia’s Colonial Coast Birding Trail, the place you may discover seashores, take pleasure in historical past, and look ahead to birds. You can even go to Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area to look at for birds in a marshy wetland.

Summary of Birds That Spend Their Winters in Georgia 

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