Crowned Kinglets: Regents of Winter

(Arras Wiedorn, Public Programs Manager)

As we all bundle up for a frosty winter, take a moment to appreciate Ohio’s winter birds. If you’re lucky, you might notice some of our smallest cold-weather visitors, the tiny ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets. At a maximum size of about 11cm long (just over 4 inches), the golden-crowned and the very slightly larger ruby-crowned kinglet are some of the smallest perching birds in the world. Despite their diminutive size, these incredible birds are also impressively well adapted to extreme temperatures.

Most cold-weather critters are large (or at least larger than their warmer-weather counterparts), an adaptation that helps them conserve heat on cold winter nights. However, the smaller golden-crowned kinglet can survive temperatures of -30°C/-22°F, all while maintaining a higher-than-average body temperature of 44°C/111°F. Incredibly, these birds are mainly insectivores, and despite the cold they manage to find enough insects to eat in wintertime to increase their body weight by nearly 6% every day.

Golden-crowned kinglets also have a special (and rather adorable) method for conserving body heat during cold winter nights. They’ll travel to forage in groups of 2-4 birds during the day, then settle to roost near to wherever they happen to be at the end of the day. They’ll often find branches to huddle under as a sort of windbreak and will roost with their little group, heads together and tails pointed outward. Their fluffy feathers plus some help from friends keeps the birds from freezing overnight.

If you’re hoping to spot a kinglet this winter, you’ll have to keep a close eye out. You may be better off listening for their calls, as these tiny, highly active birds can be quite difficult to spot. You can also let technology lend you a hand and download an app like Merlin, which can help you hear and identify bird calls. Listen for the ruby-crowned kinglet’s short, harsh calls or the high-pitched tsee tsee of the golden-crowned kinglet, and you might just get lucky and spot one.

Crowned Kinglet Photo: Nick Saunders / Great Backyard Bird Count

Chipmunk Adventures for Preschool Children 2024

Join us as we explore and have wild, wacky, wonderful adventures at Aullwood Farm! Chipmunk Adventures are classes for preschool children, ages 2-5 years old, accompanied by an adult. Plenty of hands-on activities, art projects, stories, songs and learning experiences await our youngest learners. Share the excitement as you visit farm animals, hike in the woods, crunch in the leaves and stomp in the snow. Direct interactions with nature are essential for healthy childhood development — and they're fun! Ice Jam! on January 17 is the first session of 2024, but different Chipmunk Adventure classes happen one Wednesday a month during most months of the year. Visit https://aullwood.audubon.org/chipmunkadventures for complete class listings or click below!

Child investigates a rock at Aullwood 2019 Photo: Aullwood Audubon / Jessica Picirrili

Discover The Geo Gnomes of Aullwood

You’re invited to visit Aullwood in 2024 to meet some unique guests! Ten very special Geo Gnomes will call Aullwood home from January 2 to February 29. The gnomes will be found at the Center, Farm, and in a few places in the nature sanctuary. Come hunt for all ten life-sized gnomes and guess their true home state based on decorative clues, then fill out and drop off a completed raffle ticket to enter a drawing for a year-long Friends of Aullwood family membership (or renewal) or the chance to have the Ohio gnome live at your house. Click the link below to see all the details and join us for a winter gnome hunt!

Geo Gnomes of Aullwood 2023 Photo: Aullwood Audubon / Phoenix Simmons

The Great Backyard Bird Count is Coming!

Want to help bird conservation around the world? Grab your binoculars, field guides, and a warm hat and get excited for the 26th annual Great Backyard Bird Count. The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual worldwide event sponsored by the National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada. The 2024 count runs from Friday, February 16 through Monday, February 19.

Spend at least fifteen minutes counting birds in your backyard, neighborhood, local park, or wherever you spot a bird and submit your observations online. These observations help scientists better understand our winter species and how their populations handle climate change. Visit www.birdcount.org for more about the Great Backyard Bird Count or contact Environmental Educator Sam Romeo at (937) 890-7360 x223.

Song Sparrow Photo: Mike Mushala

Project FeederWatch 2023-2024

Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. Feeder Watchers periodically count the birds they see at their feeders from November through early April and send their counts to Project FeederWatch - although you don't need a backyard or even your own feeder to count birds for science. Anyone with an interest in birds can participate!

Aullwood invites you to join us in 2024 at Aullwood's Nature Center at 1000 Aullwoord Road from 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. on January 4, 5, 18 & 19, February 1, 2, 15, 16 & 29, March 1, 14, 15, 28 & 29, and April 11 & 12. It is free to participate in Aullwood’s FeederWatch. This important community science project welcomes people of all skill levels and backgrounds, including children, families, individuals, retired persons and youth groups. Learn more about Aullwood's FeederWatch at https://aullwood.audubon.org/FeederWatch

FeederWatch data help scientists track broad scale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance. New this year are opportunities to track observed mammals and how people feel watching birds! FeederWatch results are regularly published in scientific journals and are shared with ornithologists and bird lovers nationwide. Project FeederWatch is a joint collaboration between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada. Visit www.feederwatch.org for more about the survey.

Northern Cardinal Photo: Steven Hauptman / APA 2022

Nature Store News: National Puzzle Month!

January is National Puzzle Month! The Aullwood Nature Store has an extensive selection of puzzles and games for all ages and interests, from 20 piece puzzles just right for the youngest puzzler to 2,000 piece puzzles to challenge even the most experienced. We carry a carefully chosen selection from Allport, Cavallini, Fred & Friends, eeBoo, Hart Puzzles, New York Puzzle Co., One Canoe, Puzzle Folk, Suns Out, YES and more.

Bird-opoly is just one of several “opoly” games we stock that are perfect for family game night, or you could chose a new game from Asmodee or eeBoo. Purchase a puzzle or game in January and receive a 4 oz. bag of Amish Country Popping Corn to make puzzle and game night even more fun.

Don’t forget the birds! Suet feeders, thistle socks, squirrel-proof feeders, field guides and more can also be found in the Nature Store. Be prepared for the return of hummingbirds in April with a new feeder or hummingbird swing. Cold winter days are also perfect for planning spring and summer gardens. Garden Wild, Meadow, The Life in Your Garden and Native Plant Gardening for Birds, Bees and Butterflies are among our inspiring and beautiful books. Remember, Friends of Aullwood members receive a 10% discount. Stop by Aullwood's Nature Store and Gift Shop at the Nature Center any time during regular hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Store admission is always free!

Aullwood Nature Store and Gift Shop December 2023 Photo: Ken Fasimpaur / Aullwood Audubon

• DECEMBER 24 - JANUARY 1: Aullwood Closed for the Winter Holidays
• JANUARY 2 - JANUARY 31: The Troll That Hatched an Egg: An Exhibition by Thomas Dambo (Farm & Center)
• JANUARY 2 - JANUARY 31: The Geo Gnomes of Aullwood (Farm & Center)
• JANUARY 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30: Birding the Farm Walks, 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. (Farm)
• JANUARY 4, 5, 18 & 19: Project FeederWatch, 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (Center)
• JANUARY 4, 11, 18 & 25: Adult Member Discovery Walks, 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. (Center)
• JANUARY 15: Aullwood Closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day Holiday
• JANUARY 17: Chipmunk Adventures for Preschool Children: Ice Jam! 10:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. (Farm)

Lapitan on Advisory Board for Bird Feeding Research Project

Nenita Lapitan, Senior Manager, Center & Farm has been named as a member of the Advisory Board and DEI consultant for a Virginia Tech research project funded by the National Science Foundation studying the effects of bird feeding on human well-being, while also analyzing effects of land and disease management.

Dr. Ashley Dayer of the College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech is the lead principal investigator of a team that received a $1.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study human-wildlife interactions through bird feeding. The collaborative project involves researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which manages Project FeederWatch. Researchers from The Ohio State University and the University of Georgia are also involved.

The project is multifaceted. The team wants to learn how birds react to what people do in their backyards, how people react to what they see at feeders, and how birds impact people’s well-being. More than 10,000 people from across North America submit information through Project FeederWatch and this data will be collected, sorted and analyzed.

“With this study, we will be able to explore how to maximize benefits to wildlife and humans in a dynamic system,” Dayer said. “Importantly, we aim to shed light on questions wildlife agencies are asking about how to address avian disease outbreaks. If they tell people to take down their bird feeders, how will that impact populations of birds and how will it impact human well-being if people are no longer seeing birds at their feeders?”

The project also tackles the challenge of diversifying the field of participatory science (formerly called citizen science). Working with an advisory team of experts, Dayer and her colleagues will explore how to make changes to Project FeederWatch to engage more Black, Indigenous and people of color, and people with disabilities in observing birds at feeders. Nenita Lapitan is part of both the Advisory Team and a DEI consultant for the four-year project. “I’m thrilled and honored to be part of this project whose goal is to make participatory science accessible and welcoming to more people, as well as helping scientists understand how our well-being is impacted by the natural world,” Lapitan said.

Aullwood Audubon Staff

Mikayla Burr - Center and Farm Discovery Assistant 

Chris Coleman - Senior Assistant, Grounds and Maintenance

Laurie Cothran - Senior Manager, Development & Finance 

Peter Evans - Senior Associate, Farm and Stewardship 

Ken Fasimpaur - IT Manager 

Danielle Hargrove - Center and Farm Discovery Assistant 

Susan Havran - Senior Office Assistant 

Bev Holland - Environmental Educator 

Nenita Lapitan - Senior Manager, Center & Farm 

Sam Romeo - Environmental Educator 

Chris Rowlands - Program Manager, Environmental Arts 

Christina "Phoenix" Simmons - Environmental Educator 

Julia Smith - Center and Farm Assistant 

Barbara Trick - Guest Services Manager  

Ryan Walburn - Maintenance Manager 

Arras Wiedorn - Public Programs Manager

Marsha Williams - Center and Farm Discovery Assistant 

Karen Will - Custodian

Friends of Aullwood Board of Trustees

(July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024)

Charlie Shoemaker - President

Debra Bonifas Armanini - Vice President

Monica Snow - Secretary

Chad Downing - Treasurer

Hope Taft - Member at Large

Cindy Garner - Member at Large

Tera Arthur

Georgene Dawson

Sean Freeman

Rap Hankins

Debra Hanselman

Robert Leaming

Emma Walton

Michelle Parker - Ex Officio/Honorary Member

Laurie Cothran - Ex Officio/Honorary Member

Kyle Schrodi - Ex Officio/Honorary Member

From the Artist's Notebook

(Chris Rowlands, Program Manager, Environmental Arts)

Aullwood Audubon | AskUs@aullwood.org | 937-890-7360 | www.aullwood.org