Diario de avilensky

Date: April 4, 2020
Start: 9:00
End: 10:30
Location: Aiken Center to the golf course and back
Weather: 34 degrees F, mostly cloudy, 7mph N winds
Habitat: buildings, patches of trees, fields, small wetlands

Some year-round resident species that we observed were Black-capped Chickadees, Northern Cardinals, and Blue Jays. They don't migrate because it is more beneficial for them to remain here. The benefits are that they save energy, they're able to keep their territory, and have more time to care for their young. These birds have many adaptations to survive in the same range year-round. One is that they can change their food preferences for the winter. For instance, the Black-capped Chickadee eats seeds, berries, and plant matter in the winter since the insects or spiders are not available in the winter. When spring comes around and the ground has thawed, their diet starts changing toward eating insects. Another adaptation that Chickadees perform during winter is communal roosting, which is when several birds crowd into cavities overnight so they can share body heat. Lastly, Chickadees tend to flock with their own species as well as with nuthatches, woodpeckers, and more. This creates a better chance of them finding food especially important in the winter when it's scarce.

A facultative migrant that we observed was Cooper's Hawk. They are a short to medium-distance migrant so the birds we saw today were likely from the lower states of New England or maybe down near Virginia. They may go toward Canada as their some of their breeding grounds are up there and there may be better resources for them however, Vermont is also a breeding ground so they may stay here. The environment allows the birds to gage when to leave their wintering area and travel up north. The growth of new plants, availability of food, increasing day length, and temperature increase all affect the timing of migration. For Cooper's Hawk, the migration of small birds that they eat likely triggers their migration. Other facultative migrants we saw were the Canada Goose, Red-winged Blackbird, Song sparrow, and American Robin. Sadly we did not observe any obligate migrants. An advantage of arriving in Burlington in early April as an obligate migrant would be that they get to scout out the best breeding grounds, territorial areas, and nesting sites before several more species make their way up. A disadvantage may be shortage of food due to the sometimes extended cold weather that occurs in Burlington.

Song Sparrows are both a year-round species as well as a medium distance migrant. The map that I examined showed that the closest nonbreeding ground to Burlington is in North Carolina. If the Song Sparrows we saw in Burlington came from North Carolina, they would have traveled about 796 miles in order to get here. However, it is more likely that they came from a year-round location a little closer to Vermont like lower Pennsylvania which would equate to about 500 miles total. Song Sparrows are also known to have a leapfrog migration, meaning the birds farthest North, in Canada and Alaska, fly to Southern United States and northern Mexico to winter while the birds in northern US might migrate but don't go as far as the Canadian and Alaskan birds. The rest of the calculations for the species observed are listed below, they are based off of non-breeding sites, from the "All About Birds" map, that are closest to Burlington. The species listed as zero are year-round residents, however, their mileage may be more than this as some move a bit further south in the winter.

(measurements in miles)
White-breasted Nuthatch: 0
Hairy Woodpecker: 0
American Crow: 0
American Goldfinch: 880
Dark-eyed Junco: 200
Black-capped Chickadee: 0
Blue Jay: 0
House Sparrow: 0
Rock Pigeon: 0
European Starling: 0
Mourning Dove: 2,400
Raven: 0
Ring-billed Gull: 200
American Robin: 1,400
Mallard: 850 miles
Red-winged Blackbird: 800
Canada Goose: 1,200
Song Sparrow: 500

Total: 8,430 miles

Date: 4/17/2021
Start: 1:35
End: 2:05
Location: Around downtown Burlington (starting at Hungerford Terr, to the north then west then south
Weather: cloudy, scattered showers throughout the day, halfway through walk it got sunny and stayed sunny throughout the rest of the walk
Habitat: residential areas with patches of trees and some front lawn grass patches

Date- 4/23/2021
Start time- 2:00
End time- 3:32
Location- Redstone campus and golf course
Weather- 54 degrees F, partly cloudy, 17 mph Western wind
Habitat- fields, patches of trees, buildings, retention pond

Territorial selection was seen at the retention pond and the feeder. At the retention pond we saw a Mallard and two Canada Geese. The Mallard was preening on a rock away from the two Geese. The two species of birds seemed to keep their distance from one another, possibly marking their territory locations. At the feeder, there were several different species which were able to share the food at the feeder and keep their distance from one another. They took turns flying from the feeder back to the cover of bushes. This may be a behavior that is done to ensure that they will not get attacked at the feeder by other aggressive birds or animals. It seems that they use the bushes as a safe spot to keep an eye out for predators or competition. The species we observed doing this are: the Mourning Dove, Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, and American Robin. The Mourning Doves that we saw seemed to have already been in a couple for the mating season. I observed that one was performing possible display's like bobbing it's head and lifting its wings to look puffier. This was likely a behavior done by the male to try and get the female to select him as a mate if she hadn't already.

Some possible nesting sites could be assumed as we were in an area where there was limited tree patches. The first place that seemed like a good nesting site was the bushes/hedges by the bird feeder. Another spot would be the patches of woods between the golf course and the athletic fields. The hedges would likely be more beneficial for smaller birds which need to hide from bigger predators, like Black-capped Chickadees. The patches of trees between the fields would be more beneficial for bigger birds like Cooper's Hawk which is a good area for food as they are nearby fields that would expose their prey and they don't really need cover as they don't have many predators.

A single Ruby-crowned Kinglet was singing its beautiful and complex song over by the patches of trees at the edge of the golf course This may have been it's call to find mates or defend it's territory. If this were it's territory, it would be a poor place to defend territory as it was away from any birds which makes it less beneficial to put it's energy toward defending it. This may tell us that it is not as fit as the other birds of its species which defend areas with food that have medium competition and a decent supply of food. Over by this area, we also saw a Great Egret flying over. Thinking about their nesting site, they would likely need some medium sized branches to make a nest big enough for their large body. The fields or patches of woods would not be a greatest place to find these branches, however, if necessary, there would likely be enough to scavenge within the patches of forest. A better place for them to look for bigger branches would be a more dense forest like Centennial Woods.

For the sound map, we stopped at a place where several different environments intersected. It was between the golf course, the house with a feeder, hedges, and patches of woods. We heard Mourning Doves, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Northern Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Ring-billed Gulls, and American Robins. The link to the map is below:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1j1Hmbv8c4GPASw-gO5IFSlJ5IYkmVEFy