April 22, 2020
My birding trip started around 12:30pm on April 22, 2020. It was a cloudy day with a lot of wind. It was around 42 degrees Fahrenheit and I was out until around 2:15pm. On the walk I could hear a Northern Cardinal and saw it fly into the branches of a big Eastern White Pine where I lost track of it. I saw a couple of American Crows up in an American Beech Tree that was slightly separated from the woods behind a neighbors house. I heard a call that I had trouble identifying but I think it was an Eastern Phoebe and I saw a Black-capped Chickadee on the branch of a Birch Tree snag.
I could most easily see specific mate selection behavior in American Crows. I could hear an American Crow but it was making a different sound than it’s usual sharp caw which is what caught my attention. I located a pair of crows up in an American Beech tree on the edge of the woods near my house. The crow that I assume is the male, was kind of bobbing his head up and down at the female. I couldn't locate any nests, but none of the woods in my neighborhood are very thick. I’m assuming most of the birds are nesting in the different patches of woods.
I could see and hear a Northern Cardinal defending an area of thick Eastern White Pines. He was defending prime territory which also probably signaled to the females that he would be a good mate. He has good territory that could hide a nest from potential predators very well. I saw a Black-capped Chickadee that I think was nesting in a Birch Tree snag. Chickadees like to line their nests with wood chips and wood shavings. In a Suburban area, that is not very difficult to find. The Black-capped chickadee would only have to go to a nearby yard to find materials to line its nest. In suburban neighborhoods people use wood chips and wood shavings for landscaping and for areas around their child’s playground.
Sound map:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kbB2kDWajbHhwX7mFcyQjAytyHx55eTS0MFiIemke7s/edit?usp=sharing
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