Photo from Flickr, Benoit Audet

Were you told as a kid to not eat snow? Well the American Pipit does not follow this advice! It turns out that pipits use the receding winter snowpack in the mountains as a feeding strategy. They wait for warm valley winds to carry insects upward and onto the snowpack where they die and freeze in place. Then the pipits simply come along and dine on the frozen treats throughout the summer!

Each week we introduce a new bird from the Ottawa-Gatineau area through our segment on CBC Radio’s In Town and Out. Alex MacDonald, Nature Canada’s Manager of Protected Areas, shares interesting facts about the birds that live in our communities. Be sure to tune-in to “Bird Tweet of the Week” on CBC Radio One 91.5 FM on Saturday mornings from 6am to 9am and listen to past episodes on our website.

This episode aired on Saturday August 20th, 2016.

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