Bluebirds on Shelter Island's Shell Beach: a sign of global warming?

Bluebirds have been hanging around on Shelter Island in recent winters but local amateur photographer and birder Don Bindler of Silver Beach says no one can remember seeing them before on the exposed peninsula of Shell Beach in January. “Truly a January bonus,” he commented.

Another local birder and photographer, Jim Colligan, said bluebirds were seen here last winter at Wades Beach, feeding on red cedar berries. In summer, he said, they prefer insects.

Mr. Colligan said it may be a sign of global warming that resident bluebirds are no longer leaving their summer ranges. “They are adjusting,” he said, as winters trend milder.

However, bluebirds are not all that unusual here in winter, he said. The birds normally migrate a few states southward in the winter so — before the Island’s local flock decided to stay put — Shelter Islanders might have seen birds here that had summered in New England.

Ms. Colligan said the Island’s  flock is definitely hanging around. He’s seen them congregating at the bluebird boxes  at the Mashomack Preserve. In summer, one nesting pair occupies each; in winter, a number of birds might squeeze into each wooden box to keep warm.

He said he had seen three males and a female at one bluebird box last week and a whole flock working the meadow at Mashomack, seeking ground inspects in the unfrozen soil.