emma2forsythe's Journal

Date - 3/6/21
Start time - 9:10 am
End time - 10:37 am
Location - UVM Campus, East Ave, and Centennial Woods
Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - mostly cloudy, 18 degrees F, 9 mph NW wind
Habitat(s) - started out in residential area along a relatively busy road, moved into wooded area, mostly pine stands with some deciduous trees.
Although spring is slowly getting closer, it's still pretty cold and there is snow on the ground. Winter isn't over yet. One thing that was obvious to me as we were walking through the neighborhoods and into the woods was that birds have very very few choices when it comes to food resources. The ground is frozen solid still and is covered in snow, so there's no way to get to worms or insects in the ground. There are some soft fruits on trees, like crabapples, but these are few and far between. My guess is that most of the insectivores and frugivores are farther south for the winter and what's left are the birds that feed on nuts and seeds, especially pinecones, and carnivores, like owls and raptors. Many of the birds that we saw feeding were around spruce and pine trees, suggesting the importance of cones for winter bird survival.
One of the biggest struggles for birds that stay up north for the winter is probably keeping warm and finding shelter. The best places for this cavities in old snags in the woods. Most of these are created by woodpeckers and are used by chickadees and other cavity nesters to protect themselves from the wind. Also, in order to be more efficient, I would guess that most birds spend their energy on feeding as much as they can to generate more heat and keep warm.
It seems that most of the snags with large number of cavities in them are older snags that have had lots of time to really break down. The more decomposed trees with thinner bark are probably easier for woodpeckers to drill in to and have more room inside for nesting. I think birds like swallows and nuthatches, specifically, take advantage of cavities because of their small size and their ability to squeeze in and protect themselves.

Most of the bird interactions we saw we were among different duck species at the waterfront and between Common Grackles and European Starlings in the wooded area behind the pier. The grackles and starlings seemed to be fighting over space along telephone poles. The grackles were fluffing up their feathers to appear bigger, probably either to intimidate their competition for mates or show dominance over territory. The former would make the most sense, since I do know it is the breeding season for grackles. I thought it was interesting that they were doing this around the starlings as well. I expected this kind of behavior among the grackles but not between species.
The Common Goldeneye in the water were exhibiting similar behavior. The one male we saw being surrounded by three females was throwing his head back and thrusting it forward in a courtship display, which fits in with the time of year we are in. Breeding season is upon us. The plumage also plays a part in this. For goldeneye specifically, the male's stark black and white feathers could help to stand out and attract females. The male goldeneye plumage is very different from the male Mallard plumage. Mallards opt for a more colorful look, possibly to blend in to their environment and attract mates at the same time with their colorful head pattern.
In an especially wooded area near the waste processing plant, we tried spishing to attract birds. I think this works so well on passerines, like chickadees and Tufted Titmice, in particular because its so similar to their alarm calls. When they hear that there could be a predator nearby, a whole group of them might come over to chase it off. I'm not sure why exactly the spishing sound works because to me it doesn't sound a whole lot like a bird alarm call.
One more thing I got from this field trip: we saw a groundhog running through the train tracks on the way back and I learned that in the Midwest people call groundhogs "whistling pigs". Just something cool that I wanted to add.