Birds
In 1936, writer and naturalist Donald Culross Peattie opined that “February is a good month in which to make friends with the birds of a great city.” In North Carolina, he may be right: winter still holds steady in February, and the bird community changes more slowly than it will later in spring. Some of the most noticeable activity often comes from feeder visitors. Carolina Wrens may begin pairing up and scouting nesting sites, and non-native House Sparrows do the same.
By the end of the month, Purple Martins and Tree Swallows may begin to reappear. Barred Owls often intensify their hooting as courtship ramps up. American Woodcocks also begin their elaborate breeding displays in February. If you’re willing to brave the cold, it’s worth watching males spiral skyward at dusk and then drop rapidly back down, making their distinctive “peenting” calls in hopes of attracting a mate.
Butterflies
Many overwintering butterfly species re-emerge this month, especially during warm spells. Near wooded habitats, look for Question Marks, Eastern Commas, and Mourning Cloaks. In open habitats—fields, edges, and roadsides—expect American Ladies, Late Sulphurs, Orange Sulphurs, Clouded Sulphurs, and Cabbage Whites (a commonly seen species introduced from Europe). Other species recorded in Durham in February include Sleepy Oranges, American Snouts, and even Variegated Fritillaries.
A quick reminder: the Carolinas are home to five butterfly families—skippers (Hesperiidae), gossamer-wings (Lycaenidae), brushfoots (Nymphalidae), swallowtails (Papilionidae), and sulphurs and whites (Pieridae). Each contains multiple subfamilies with distinct traits.
This month’s featured subfamily is the emperors (Apaturinae), members of the brushfoot family. Emperors tend to be quick, nervous butterflies often found perched on tree trunks or feeding on carrion, rotting fruit, and dung. They’ll also land on people to take salts from arms and fingertips. Two resident Piedmont species are the Tawny Emperor (Asterocampa clyton) and Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis), medium-sized orange-brown butterflies patterned with dark spots. Both use hackberries (Celtis occidentalis) and sugarberries (Celtis laevigata) as host plants. Tawny Emperors typically lay large clusters of creamy-white eggs on the undersides of leaves, while Hackberry Emperors lay single eggs or small clusters.
Reptiles and amphibians
Even in February, the Piedmont can be surprisingly vocal on mild nights. Expect Southeastern Chorus Frogs and Spring Peepers, and you might also catch the sharp, repetitive “clinking” of a Northern Cricket Frog, the musical trill of an American Toad, the low-pitched croak of a Pickerel Frog, or the sheep-like bleat of an Eastern Spadefoot. Continue to watch for breeding salamanders as well.
In bloom this month
Keep an eye out for these February fruits and flowers.
In bloom (in some years)
Red maple – Acer rubrum
Hazel alder – Alnus serrulata
Round-lobed hepatica – Anemone americana
Eastern spring-beauty – Claytonia virginica
American trout-lily – Erythronium americanum
Carolina jessamine – Gelsemium sempervirens
Little heartleaf – Hexastylis minor
Bluets – Houstonia sp.
In fruit
Beautyberry – Callicarpa americana
Sugarberry – Celtis laevigata
Hearts-a-bustin’ – Euonymus americanus
American holly – Ilex opaca
February fieldwork at home: invasives
February is a great month to eradicate non-native invasive plants on your property—many are still easy to identify even in midwinter. In the southeastern United States, most invasive plants arrived from Europe or southeast Asia, regions that share the deciduous forest biome. Some arrived accidentally (for example, Japanese stiltgrass arrived as packing material), while others were introduced intentionally through horticulture (princesstree is a classic example). Once established, invasive species can alter vegetation structure, shift wildlife food resources, and affect ecosystem processes such as sedimentation, erosion, soil chemistry, and even fire regimes.
Important terms
Exotic species: a non-native plant that will grow, but not spread, in a given ecosystem
Invasive species: a non-native species that spreads and causes harm in a given ecosystem
Native species: a species that historically occurred in a given ecosystem
Noxious weed: any plant whose presence is detrimental to crops or desirable plants, livestock, land, other property, or public health (note: a noxious weed can be native)
Notable invasive plant species in our area
Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense)
Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis)
Common reed (Phragmites australis)
English ivy (Hedera helix)
Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata)
Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum)
Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin)
Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora)
Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus)
Princesstree (Paulownia tomentosa)
Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia)
Sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata)
Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima)
Plant profile: Allegheny chinkapin (Castanea pumila)
“The Allegheny chinkapin [may] well be our most ignored and undervalued native North American nut tree.” —Payne et al. (1993)
Allegheny chinkapin (Castanea pumila)—also called American, eastern, common, or tree chinkapin—was mentioned as early as Captain John Smith’s 1612 account of Virginia, where local American Indians called it “checkinquamin.” Like its congener, the nearly extinct American chestnut (Castanea dentata), Allegheny chinkapin produces sweet, dark nuts. They’re smaller than chestnuts, but still prized by chipmunks, deer, deer mice, rabbits, squirrels, and birds including bobwhites, grouse, and wild turkeys. The tree is also a larval host for the orange-tipped oakworm moth (Anisota senatoria).
Allegheny chinkapin grows up to about 4,500 feet in dry woods and rocky uplands of Appalachia and the southeastern United States, and it also occurs westward into Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. It’s recorded in most North Carolina counties, from Ashe to Brunswick. Hardy to Zone 5, it grows in full sun to light shade and does best in well-drained soils, including sites rich in organic matter.
Plants may form shrubby thickets or grow as small trees. In tree form, Allegheny chinkapin can reach about 40 feet tall and up to 1.5 feet in diameter. Leaves are toothed with bristled tips, typically 6–20 cm long and 2.5–5 cm wide, with a whitish, velvety underside and a greener upper surface. Twigs are often woolly, and the buds are much smaller than those of American beech (Fagus grandifolia). Whitish flowers appear in upright catkins (about 4–6 inches long) in July in North Carolina, and the dark brown nuts mature in spiny cupules in September or October.
Chinkapin nuts are produced early—often by the second or third growing season. By around the sixth year, a tree may produce 1,200–1,500 nuts. The nuts are roughly 5% fat, 5% protein, 40% starch, and 50% water. Medicinally, leaves have been used to treat fevers associated with colds.
Threats include weevils and other beetles. Although Allegheny chinkapin is largely resistant to the chestnut blight fungus, some plants are affected. The species is considered threatened in Kentucky and endangered in New Jersey.
References
Cook D. 2001. The Piedmont Almanac. Chapel Hill (NC): Mystic Crow Publishing.
Daniels JC. 2003. Butterflies of the Carolinas. Cambridge (MN): Adventure Publications, Inc.
Peattie DC. 1936 Feb 16. Birds that are New Yorkers. New York Times Magazine.
Petrides GA. 1988. A Field Guide to Eastern Trees. New York (NY): Houghton Mifflin.
Payne JA, Johnson GP, Miller G. 1993. Chinkapin: potential new crop for the south. In: Janick J, Simon JE, editors. New Crops. New York (NY): Wiley. p. 500–505.
Halls LK. 1977. Southern Fruit-Producing Woody Plants Used by Wildlife. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report SO-16. New Orleans (LA).
Little EL. 1980. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees. New York (NY): Alfred A. Knopf.
Radford AE, Ahles HE, Bell CR. 1983. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill (NC): University of North Carolina Press.
Holmes JS. 2002. Common Forest Trees of North Carolina (revised 18th ed). Raleigh (NC): North Carolina DENR, Division of Forest Resources.
Moerman D. 1998. Native American Ethnobotany. Portland (OR): Timber Press.
Weiner MA. 1980. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. New York (NY): Ballantine Books / Fawcett Columbine.
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