Diario de bethanysmith512

For this week’s journal entry, and given the current Coronavirus situation, I travelled to my grandmother’s house in Barrington, Rhode Island. It was April 4, 2020, and at about 4:00 in the afternoon when I began observing birds on her bird feeder and around her yard. The purpose of the visit was actually just to check in on my grandmother and spend some time with her outside, and at the proper distance. Once I started seeing how many birds were flying around her yard, however, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sit for a while and observe. The yard is very shaded with many large trees and bushes, providing plenty of habitats for many different bird species. More specifically, the habitat had a mix of tree cover and open grass, along with shrubs, bushes, and flower gardens. Along with this, since it was in a backyard, the area could also be described as residential and suburban. The weather at the time was about 50˚ with a slight cool breeze. Since it was around 4 o’clock, the sun was lower but not yet setting, but it had begun to cool down for the day.
I will begin by first listing all of the year-round residents for Rhode Island that I observed. These include the House Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, White-throated Sparrow, Blue Jay, Downy Woodpecker, and Northern Cardinal. Some reasons behind bird species remaining in one place year-round are that migration is energetically expensive, and if it is not necessary for the species to move around, they will refrain from doing so. Along with this, there is a high mortality rate during migration that can be attributed to inclement weather. If the reproductive output of a bird species does not offset the mortality during migration, then it is not advantageous in a biological or evolutionary sense. In terms of the adaptations utilized by year-round residents, they can be physiological or behavioral, both of which help an individual survive various conditions. These can include behaviors such as hypothermia or torpor, the act of extreme shivering to generate body heat in the winter or nesting in smaller holes in trees to stay warm. In order to be a successful year-round resident, birds must also transition to different food sources depending on the season. Birds that eat mostly insects and berries in the spring or summer may search for nuts in the winter instead, for example.
Some examples of facultative migrants that I observed on my most recent birding outing are the American Crow, American Goldfinch, Mourning Dove, American Robin, European Starling, Herring Gull, and Common Grackle. Unfortunately, I do not believe any of the species I observed are classified as obligate migrants. However, I have plenty of facultative migrants to discuss, meaning those species determine each year whether they will migrate. Most of the species listed above would be arriving in Rhode Island at this time of year, coming back from somewhere warmer where they spent their winter. Some specific examples would be the American Robin, which in the winter migrates to the warmer, southern states in the U.S., or the Common Grackle, which only migrates short distances within its range. In terms of environmental changes that cause these species to arrive back in Rhode Island around this time, the biggest factor would be temperature. A lot of these birds are not equipped to spend winter in the northern regions, but now the temperature is beginning to be consistently higher and things are starting to bloom. However, especially in Rhode Island and the northeast in general, the weather can still be quite variable in April, which could be a disadvantage of the birds arriving this early.
As part of the mini activity, I wanted to include the rough estimate of miles travelled by all of the facultative migrants I observed, since I wasn’t able to spot any obligate migrants. Using Google Earth to help me map it out, I determined that the migrants I listed in the previous paragraph travel a total of about 2,570 miles. Keep in mind that this is a complete estimate, however, and I also took into account that a lot of them are considered “resident to short-distance migrants,” so when given a range in their distances travelled, I leaned toward the lesser

For this week's field observation, I visited a nearby wildlife refuge in Seekonk, MA known as Caratunk, which is affiliated with Audubon. Today, Tuesday April 14, I picked a spot to observe at about 3:30 p.m., and the weather was mostly sunny with only a few clouds in the sky. We had a huge storm the day before, so a lot of the ground was still wet and muddy. The temperature was about 60˚, and there was little to no wind. The habitat could be best described as an "edge habitat," meaning it consisted of mostly a large field and grass on the edge of forested area. Also close by to where I was observing the birds is a small pond surrounded by forest. I picked this wildlife refuge and this spot to bird because I figured it would offer me a wide variety of species since it was such a diverse habitat. Near the field was a bird feeder as well, which I glanced over to check every once in a while.

For this week’s birding excursion, I travelled to a local trail system around Turner Reservoir on the border of Seekonk, Massachusetts and East Providence, Rhode Island. I began birding at about three o’clock in the afternoon and I finished around four thirty on Sunday, April 19, 2020. The weather was about 60˚ and quite windy, especially since I was near a body of water. The habitat was different from my previous field observations. The area is heavily forested, consisting mainly of large conifers such as Eastern White Pine and some other deciduous tree species. There is also a good amount of shrubbery and smaller plants on the forest floor. Another unique feature of this habitat is the large reservoir that the trails go around, which provided an opportunity to see both aquatic birds and those species that mainly inhabit forests and woodlands.
I certainly noticed a change in behavior compared to my other field observations, specifically in terms of mating and reproduction. To begin, one of the behaviors I noticed came from two American Crows that I observed. They were acting quite territorial, and by this I mean they were flying from tree to tree, staying in close proximity to one another, all while being extremely vocal. For a while, their call was the only one I could hear. I would confidently say that these birds were defending a territory. The two individuals that I observed specifically seemed to be defending a prime territory, and I say this because I did see at least one other American Crow that flew overhead, but quickly left the area that the other two birds were occupying. On the property, it is likely that the American Crows would nest high up in the trees because that is where I observed the individuals. This may indicate that the bird’s defending their prime territory have high fitness because they successfully remained in place, forcing any other individuals to leave. They were also extremely vocal, which leads me to believe even more that they were defending a territory.
Another species I wanted to focus on in regard to mating behavior was the American Robin. I actually was able to observe two separate pairs of American Robins at different times during my excursion, and each pair exhibited different reproductive behaviors. The first two individuals I saw were simply in close proximity to each other on the ground, likely collecting materials to build a nest, since the forest floor would be a great place for those birds to acquire them. The American Robins, along with other species in this specific habitat, would likely be using pine needles and small twigs to build and line their nests. As I mentioned before, the forest was filled with Eastern White Pines, so the floor was covered in needles, as well as some other leaves and sticks. The other pair of American Robins I observed seemed to be earlier in the mating process, meaning I actually observed one individual fly after the other in an apparent chase. I guessed that this could have been an example of a male chasing a female individual in an attempt to reproduce. In comparison to the American Crows, I did not notice nearly the same level of territorial nature in the American Robins. The American Robins could likely nest on a gazebo that is located in the forest, since I know they tend to nest on structures such as that.

Here is the link to a google doc with the Sound Map from my field notebook!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UCbHv97bEFbCekbkO5-exPUiK1JkbrnTZsFbHbZtSwk/edit?usp=sharing

On Saturday, April 25, I travelled to one of my all-time favorite birding locations in my hometown, Caratunk Wildlife Refuge. This natural area is actually owned and run by Audubon Rhode Island, and it is home to a wide variety of both resident and migratory bird species. I arrived at the refuge at about 8 o’clock in the morning, and I finished logging my observations at around 10 o’clock. The weather was a beautiful 50˚, with little to no wind and barely any cloud cover. The ground was wet from a heavy rainstorm that happened the night before. As for the habitat, there is a mix between fielded habitat and wooded area, with a small pond as well. It could also be described as an edge habitat. This provided me with an opportunity to see bird species that prefer forested areas, fields, and ponds.