From juncos to owls, winter birds turn snow days into show days – Southwest Times Record

As snow settles over the River Valley, a quieter kind of traffic picks up outside kitchen windows and backyard feeders. While roads are empty, birdwatchers are suddenly busy, spotting winter regulars and the occasional celebrity guest with wings.
According to Dr. Ragupathy Kannan, professor of ornithology at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, cold weather is prime time for birding.
“Juncos are sometimes called snowbirds since they show up with the first snow,” he said, pointing to the slate-gray Dark-eyed Juncos that arrive in cheerful flocks beneath shrubs and feeders.
They’re joined by familiar faces like American Robins, Northern Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, birds that seem unfazed by winter so long as the buffet stays open.
To help them power through the cold, Kannan recommends black-oil sunflower seeds. “They’re full of fats and carbs that keep birds warm,” he said. Blue Jays, meanwhile, have a very specific request: shelled peanuts, unsalted, please.
Winter also brings a few less-common visitors worth watching for. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers may turn up on tree trunks, White-throated Sparrows might scratch beneath feeders, and Short-eared Owls, favorites among birders, can even be spotted flying during daylight hours in open fields near Charleston and Fort Chaffee.
And then there’s the rock star of winter birding: the Snowy Owl. “A Snowy Owl would absolutely create a sensation,” Kannan said. While rare this far south, sightings in Tulsa and nearby areas mean it’s not impossible.
Birders should also keep an eye out for Common Redpolls, small northern finches that sometimes wander deep into Arkansas during harsh winters. Identification help is available from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at allaboutbirds.org.
Snow-covered yards can make feeding tricky, so Kannan suggests placing seed on trays, elevated feeders, or hard surfaces so it doesn’t disappear beneath the snow.
For those who want to turn casual birdwatching into citizen science, sightings can be logged at eBird, a free global database that tracks species, locations, and even personal birding milestones. Locally, UAFS also participates in biodiversity monitoring through iNaturalist, where community members can contribute observations to the “Biodiversity of UAFS Campus” project.
From backyard feeders to open fields and even international bioblitzes in places like Costa Rica and Panama, Kannan says winter is proof that you don’t need to travel far to find something worth watching.
Sometimes, all it takes is a snowfall, a window and a handful of sunflower seeds (unsalted, of course).

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