Migratory songbirds prepare for a long winter’s stay in area

November begins the season of winter birds, the ones that migrate to Southeast Texas and stay through March or April.

These terminal migrants, as they are called, move southward in autumn from northern breeding grounds and end their journeys in places like Houston.

Among the songbirds are ruby-crowned kinglets, which breed in the spruce and fir forests of Canada and New England. The plump, hyperactive little birds twitch their wings frenetically as they congregate in small flocks among trees and bushes. An agitated male will erect a patch of crown feathers that looks like a bright-red skull cap.

Probably the most abundant backyard songbirds here for winter are yellow-rumped warblers, sparrow-size drab, brownish birds with bright-yellow rump patches and hints of the same color on the tops of their heads and on the sides of their breasts. In spring, they sport an elegant breeding plumage of deep blues, whites and vibrant yellows.

American robins

reside here year-round, but a northern population increases their numbers this time of year. Robins sometimes migrate only as far south as necessary to find food or tarry along migratory routes until winter conditions make food scarce before heading farther south.

American goldfinches also migrate like robins, which is why they get here later. They are nearly unrecognizable as goldfinches in winter, with dull brown plumage dusted in dingy yellow, but their plumage transforms into a radiant gold in spring.

Robins, goldfinches and other terminal migratory birds teach us that birds head south to find food, not to escape cold weather. After all, Houston has cold and sometimes freezing weather. If birds needed to avoid the cold, they’d head to Costa Rica!

The abundance and variety of food — from insects to wild seeds and berries — makes Houston hospitable for both resident and migrant birds. Gobbling up high-energy food enables birds to rev up their metabolism, which generates core body heat to keep them warm. It’s the same principle people use when eating hot chili on cold winter days.

Birds also have intricately laced coats of feathers they fluff up to insulate their skin against frigid temperatures, much as we might fluff up a down comforter to keep us warm in bed. We may take refuge from outdoor frosty wind by standing behind a tree, and birds do likewise by perching on the side of a tree that offers shelter against icy wind.

Kathy Adams Clark Yellow-rumped warblers are arriving in the Houston area in advance of winter. The birds are feasting on an abundant supply of insects, seeds and berries.

American goldfinches, left, and ruby-crowned kinglets, right, join a host of other birds spending the winter in Texas.

Kathy Adams Clark photos The population of American robins will swell as birds from the northern population arrive in the area for the winter.