First Bird of the New Year 2025
I woke on New Year’s Day 2025 and was almost nervous about what bird I would see first. It’s unusual for me to feel anxious before I look to the skies for that first omen of the new year, but as I looked out the windows there was nothing. No birds, no squirrels (that was my animal of the year twice) in fact the winter bare yard was utterly quiet. I paced through the house the only human awake with the three kittens trailing me, I’d learn later that Magnus, our oldest rescue at 6, was tucked up in bed with my husband pinning him in place for a late winter sleep in. I went to my office to fill the bird feeders there and again nothing stirring, not even a titmouse. Then I heard a thunk-thunk-thunk on the only feeder that still had something it, the suet feeder.
I knew from the sound that it was either a woodpecker or a starling. I didn’t want starlings, I spend too much time fighting with them in our nest boxes and them emptying our feeders in huge bullying flocks. I hoped for a Yellow-shafted flicker, our largest regularly visiting woodpecker, but they’re larger than the feeder and since I still couldn’t see our thunking visitor I knew it wasn’t that, or a red-bellied woodpecker, but as I crept closer the bird was still hidden from sight, so the list thinned even more. I was able to creep within inches of the window because the feeder hid me from the small bird’s sight line. I was almost a hundred percent sure when I finally caught a glimpse of the black and white body hanging on the suet feeder. My first bird of the year is Downy Woodpecker. The moment I saw it I felt calm, all the nervousness evaporated. I felt grounded and full of a deep contentment. It was an unusually strong and comforting reaction to the year’s first bird, but I’ll take it.
Downy Woodpecker will be my theme for this year. What does that mean? I can start with metaphysics or with science. For the metaphysical I start with ANIMAL-SPEAK and ANIMAL-WISE by Ted Andrews. All woodpeckers are about rhythm: finding a rhythm for your life that works for you. They beat their own drum against trees, drainpipes, and other manmade surfaces. It’s a way of communicating to their mates and declaring territory. That’s not in Andrews’ books but you can find that and more at allaboutbirds.org from Cornell University, or abcbirds.org from American Bird Conservancy, and other places like the Audubon Society. Look for books that feature your bird, its habitat, its favorite food, or anything that catches your imagiantion and makes you think of the bird.
Downies are North America’s smallest woodpecker between the sizes of a sparrow and an American Robin. Being so small means, they can get insects in places that all the larger woodpeckers can’t like the stalks of plants that we’ve left for the winter in our garden, or the thinnest of tree branches. Imagine a woodpecker small enough to feed on the same plants that American goldfinches use though they go after the seed heads and the Downies are after the insects. What insights can I take away from the above for my year? Find your niche and stick to it because that’s where your food/treasure lies?
Downies also join mixed flocks of chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice in the winter which allows them to forage for food with more eyes looking out for danger, so maybe the message is also about cooperation? Working in a group? But deeper dive into the biology side and I find out that Downies also watch where white-breasted nuthatches hide their seed caches and raid them cleaning out the winter horde of their flock mate, so maybe it’s not about group dynamics? Sometimes a cool science fact is just that, it’s cool or fun, but not metaphysically significant.
I’ll be meditating and journaling on exactly what Downy Woodpecker’s message is for me this year, but for now knowing this is my theme for 2025 is enough. What was your first bird, or animal of the year? Domestic animals that you live with do not count. Happy New Year everyone.
Thank you for this insight into the new year. Of course I have only seen our new puppy so far. I will have to look out later and see what I can see.
My first bird this morning was a blue jay. I am not a birder, so I didn’t know this was a thing, but I need the good omens a blue jay brings so much. I needed to see your blog to know that. Fate is with me today.
A beautiful first bird of the year
Great egrets flying overhead as I drove into work this morning –saw zero birds yesterday.
My first bird of the season was a Cardinal. Where do I find what swing this beautiful bird means?
The moment I saw your bird, I immediately thought Anita Blake 🙂 For me, as Anita fan from the very first book appearing unknown in my local bookstore, it was a perfect animal totem of her: the classic vampire white-black-red color triangle (early on she was in my head in a dark ruby silk blouse, V-cut front with a sharp waist-length black leather jacket over it, and a form fitting half length bblack lesther skirt for her ‘night look’ and a classic detective trenchcoat for outdoor crime scenes); the way Anita is built small but underestimated, with softness but a sharp mouth and hard head, never afraid of calling attention or banging away at someone or something stubborn, persistent, determined to get the job done. And all the while she is always alert and on the lookout for what others might be hiding, just like this beautiful bird. 🙂
My first bird/animal of the new year is a parrot. We live near and donate/volunteer at the local food bank, and a blind lady came in with an actual, papered Seeing Eye Parrot, named George. He was amazing: he has the complete list of what exact foods she can eat and what her favorites are, and he calls out the items and exact directions (“shelf in front of you, beside your right side, up, down, left, left, right, etc) as he knows he cannot touch anything in public spaces. He is so intelligent that even if he needs to relieve himself, he will quietly whisper a code word to his lady and then hold it until she is done with what she needs to do indoors and she takes him outside, and gives the word, where he will then fly to a discreet corner in the grass to relieve himself and quickly return to her shoulder. She said he is an excellent judge of character on meeting or being approached by anyone, and has taught her a special syllabus of codewords he concocted to communicate exactly what this person is in his assessment, be it good or bad. She said someone once tried to take him, but he anticipated their attempt and had coded her to abruptly duck, then flown to a security guard and alerted him she needed immediate help, before returning to her. She says she rescued him from a pet store, when he was young and not connecting with the staff enough to eat properly or interact with people. The moment he saw her walking through, he yelled, ‘You! Yes, you! Hello, I’m George!”…and that was 10 years ago this month, she said. He has never let her out of sight since and sleeps in her room on a custom perch on her nightstand, operates most things in their home, not only eats and prepares meals with her but also holds detailed conversations and they have favorite hobbies and games that they share in every day. I can’t stop thinking about them, and how amazing and inspiring their existence together is.