Movements of residents
Typical migration consists of definite movements that are repeated regularly year after year, and it is to these that the term is generally restricted. It is desirable, however, if only for purposes of comparison, that some account be taken of the movements of some other birds, which, while not typical, do possess some of the characteristics of true migration. Data on this subject are being collected through bird banding.
There are several species that are customarily grouped under the heading "permanent residents," the term implying that these birds do not travel but remain throughout the year in one locality. Among these are the cardinal, the tufted titmouse, the wrentit, the Carolina wren, the house finch, the bobwhite, the California quail, and the ruffed grouse. Each species may be present constantly throughout the year, although in the northern part of the range there is probably a slight withdrawal of the breeding birds in winter. The individuals to be seen at that season, therefore, may not always be the same as those observed during the summer. It is certain, however, that these species do not regularly perform extensive journeys.
While the blue jay is disposed to be secretive, it is such a showy and noisy bird that it is not likely to escape notice. In the vicinity of Washington, D. C., as in many other places, it is present the year round, but at the end of September or early in October when the weather is becoming cooler, troops of jays are sometimes seen working southward through the trees. A corresponding northward movement occurs again in May. This is unquestionably a migration to and from some winter range, but its extent or significance is not now known. Some light is being shed on the matter, however, through the records of banded birds, and these eventually will fill in a more perfect picture of the movements of this species. One jay, banded on September 14, 1923, at Waukegan, Ill., was killed at Peruque, Mo., on November 15 of the same year; another, banded at Winnetka, Ill., on June 16, 1925, was retaken at Sulphur Rock, Ark., the following December 10; a third, banded on May 6, 1925, at Whitten, Iowa, was recaptured at Decatur, Ark., on January 22, 1926. These three birds unquestionably had made a flight that had every appearance of being a true migration to winter quarters in Missouri and Arkansas.
The black-capped chickadee is apparently resident in many places, but occasionally in winter it invades the range of the southern Carolina chickadee, and in northern Canada it is regularly a migrant.
In the coastal plain between Washington, D. C., and the Atlantic Ocean, the white-breasted nuthatch is usually absent during the summer, nesting at that season in the higher, or piedmont, country. Late in fall, however, it appears in fair abundance in the wooded bottoms, remaining at the lower levels until the following March or April.
Some birds, including the screech owl, bobwhite, Carolina wren, and mockingbird, seem to be actually sedentary, but even these are sometimes given to post-breeding wanderings. Ordinarily bobwhites that are marked with numbered bands are seldom retaken far from the area where banded, but sometimes they will travel 10 miles or more. A screech owl banded at Glenwood, Minn., in March, was recovered the following December at Emmetsburg, Iowa, 180 miles south. Such flights, however, are probably more in the nature of a search for new feeding areas, or to escape from a winged enemy, than a true migratory journey.