An excerpt from Winter Wings by Bert Raynes:
"There's an old geologist's saying to the effect that if he hadn’t believed it, he would have never seen it. I actually knew that old geologist.
Finding birds in winter in the Northern Rockies is a little like searching for some previously unrecognized subtle or hidden geomorphic feature. They’re there, but if you don’t believe, you’ll never see them.
Different from summer or spring. What should your winter birding strategy, be, then??
Just go out and look.
Many bird watchers think summer is the optimum time to find birds. True enough, there are more birds around. More species, more numbers of most species. True, but many birds are on the nest, quiet, and don’t want to be seen, or are busy feeding and training their young and are no longer singing. Some are hiding out as only they can.
Summer birds are great. But winter birds, they’re hardy souls with fewer obligations. Every wild creature has to be concerned about its safety and food. Winter birds have pretty much only those concerns—not territorial defenses, not mate selection, not eggs to brood, nor young to care for. Why, winter birds are almost on vacation! What better time to look for them?”
Thank you for making us believe Bert, and for teaching us to appreciate the natural world. Thank you for shaping the next generation of naturalists and conservationists. Bert Raynes, naturalist and Jackson Hole icon, passed away on New Year's Day at age 96.
There may be fewer birds around, but some birds only ever show up in winter! Winter is your best chance of seeing cool little guys like grosbeaks (pine and evening), crossbills (red and white-winged), rosy-finches (black and gray crowned), northern shrikes, and snow buntings…in the valley bottom. Raptors like rough-legged hawks and the occasional snowy owl only ever migrate south to Wyoming during the winter months. If you’re a beginner birder, winter is a great time to get familiar with a good foundation or hardy souls.
Pine grosbeak by Yankech Gary
Gray-crowned rosy-finch by Dominic Sherony
Snow bunting by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
Snowy owl by Jongsun Leend
White-winged crossbill by Scott Hero
Northern shrike by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
Rough-legged hawk by Tom Koerner/USFWS