Diario de g_underhill

I started off this walk at 3 pm and was outside until around 4:30 pm on March 5th, 2020. I decided to walk with a friend through her neighborhood on East Terrace, make our way to the UVM co-operative barn on spear street, and then loop back to her house. When we began the walk, it was very sunny outside with minimal wind and around 42 degrees Fahrenheit. However, as we continued, dark clouds appeared above us taking the suns warmth away. The wind picked up a little bit towards the end of the walk, blowing from the North and hitting us in the face as we walked back towards her house. During the beginning of the walk, we were in a residential habitat where street trees lined either side of the sidewalks. As we made it to the end of the cul-de-sac, we approached a walking path that ran from Athletic Campus to the co-operative barn. The walking path was lined with coniferous trees on one side and a more open area on the other with some scattered trees. We spent most of our time at the co-operative barn and observed the birds that were inside the horse and cattle barns.
The birds that I observed within both of the barns displayed behavioral ways of maintaining their body temperatures. For example, they had the smart idea of nesting and hanging out in there to avoid the wind. This enabled them to conserve their body heat, and not worry about the wind blowing up their feathers and revealing their apteria. I noticed that some of the House sparrows, European starlings, and Rock pigeons would spend their time congregated on piece of metal fence, presumably to have a rest and save energy. The ceiling above us had a type of net underneath it that a lot of birds found their ways into and were resting on as well. I didn't notice any feeding, breeding, or sleeping from any species. However, a lot of the House sparrows spent their time flying above us from one side of the ceiling to the other. I was surprised by this action because both ends of the ceiling seemed the same to me, and I don't know why they would expend that energy. I didn't notice any of the species actively hunting for anything, but it seemed like they used the horse hair and the hay from their surrounding habitat to create nests. It is possible that some of them eat the hay, but I didn't witness it. Although I didn't notice any of them on the hunt, I would assume that the barn provides some bugs, grasses, and rodents for them to feed on. In different seasons when it is warmer, such as the summer, I would assume they venture outside of the barn more to find more living prey. I would assume that most, if not all, of the species I saw today overnight inside of the barn. They would stay the warmest that way, and have protection from large predators by staying above the net near the ceiling. However, I did notice some nests outside of the barn, on some of the trees that lined the walking path back to Athletic Campus. I'm not sure if birds usually sleep in their nests, but it's possible that some species would overnight there due to the insulation provided by their nest.
The mini-activity didn't lead me to any good conclusions, as I only saw two snags and neither had any cavities. Both of them were in the line of conifers that were on the path to the co-operative barn. The snags I saw were both about medium sized, although I don't know the specific DBH. I do know that snags are very important in keeping birds warm in the winter, and shaded in the summer. In the winter, I would assume they would be most useful to birds that have a difficult time warming themselves in other ways; possibly because they have too much surface area to keep warm through their own actions. In the summer, they are probably most useful to birds that don't have a lot of apteria to expose to the wind, or ones that don't have a water source available to cool themselves off.

I went to the Salmon Hole in Winooski yesterday at about 5 PM. I parked in the lot and walked the short distance to the trail and continued down the trail until I reached an area that was surrounded on one side by the Winooski river, and the other side by trees. In the main spot where I decided to plant myself and look for birds there was a large deciduous tree on my right side that was growing on the edge of the river and some scattered vine-like brush beside it. To my left, there was a small hill where houses and restaurants sat at the top and trees covered the hillside. It was about 38 degrees, and very sunny with some sparse clouds floating in the sky. Although it was rather cold, the sunlight and absence of wind made it feel much warmer.
The two main birds that I saw interacting were the House Sparrows and the Black-capped Chickadees. The House Sparrows interacted mainly with each other through calls. In the tree ahead of me, there were about 4 of them sitting near each other on separate branches at the top of the canopy. It sounded like when one bird would sing a call and finish, then another one would begin to call. It was difficult to tell if these back and forth calls were just one bird or multiple, but I believe it was coming from multiple birds as a way of communication. The birds seemed to all be looking down at me from the tree so my assumption is that they were making calls to alert other birds that something was in their territory. I did not see much visual communication happening between the birds, but I also was not sure what to be looking for. I saw the House Sparrows fluttering their tails and poking their beaks into the bark of the tree, but none of them got very close to each other.
The House Sparrows were a little far away, and I did not have binoculars, so it was a little difficult to discern the exact color patterns. However, they had dark beaks, a light brown cap, and a white underbelly. Their wings appear to have a pattern that is black and orangish-tan, a pattern that reminds me of tiger stripes. Overall, the House Sparrows are dark birds. I would assume this is a type of cryptic coloration that allows them to blend in with trees, brush, and dark surfaces. This would be an advantage over predators that are unable to see them against these habitats and would allow them to not be eaten. On the other hand, the Black-capped Chickadees had dark black caps, with white patches stemming from their beaks. Their wings were black and white, and their bellies were a tannish-white color. The black and white contrast of the Chickadee does not seem beneficial for blending into a wooded environment. This leads me to believe that their plumage is a type of countershading; dark on the cap and the back, and white on the belly. This would be beneficial to protect themselves from predators that are flying above, and energy-saving by the whites of their bellies reflecting color off of their surroundings.
I focused on one particular Black-capped Chickadee that was resting in a viney-plant beside me. It was sitting there for a long time, seemingly doing nothing but staring into space. The sun was beginning to set at this point, so I assume it was about the point in the day when the bird was winding down and becoming less active. It's possible this bird was experiencing the part in its circadian rhythm where it was working on slowing down its metabolism and saving energy to prepare for activity later in the night. I decided to make some "pssh" noises at this Chickadee to see what kind of reaction it would have. At first, I made the noise at a normal pitch. The bird did not have any reaction and still just sat in the vines. After trying it at a more high-pitched level a few times, the bird eventually flew away. However, I was making advances at it at this point and getting closer to it which could be the reason that it ended up flying away. In this case, the noise did not seem to be enticing to this bird. However, I would assume that birds are generally enticed by this sound because it sounds like it could be a new kind of bird that is entering their territory and they want to figure out where the noise is coming form. In my opinion, it seems like the noise would gives rise to a fight reaction from the small birds.