Diario de rlooney

Time: 3:45-5pm
Date: 7 March 2019
Location: Wildlife area off of Bay rd, near Shelburne Farms
Weather: Cloudy, windy, 18 F
Habitat: Woods
Bird Observations:
Black-capped Chickadee: 19 (sound and sight)
American Robin: 3 (sight)
American Crow: 5 (sight and sound)

The birds I saw while at a wooded area off of Bay road in Shelburne VT are likely using multiple aspects of ecological and evolutionarily beneficial adaptations to survive winter. From class we learned that the Black-capped Chickadee utilizes an adaptation called Facultative Hypothermia reducing the birds metabolic rate, conserving an individuals energy stores. I saw the application of this adaptation while in the woods because the chickadees were not moving very far, but rather hopping around a couple of trees and not expending much energy. I can imagine a lot of time is spent resting rather than foraging, or moving. I didn't notice any birds hunting or feeding while I was out. I mainly saw Black-capped Chickadees which specialize on seeds rather than insects which allows them to thrive in colder climates in the summer. Perhaps the wintering bird species have seed stores they use during the winter as finding seeds in the snow in itself would be difficult. Species living in harsh cold temperatures need to forage on seeds to survive since insects are no longer available or abundant. I imagine that bird species use high branches, or holes in trees to overnight so that they are covered inside of the tree and safe from being spotted by predators (owls?).

On my walk I came across 23 dead trees or snags with cavities inside of them. When I tapped on the trees nothing came and peeked out unfortunately. I did notice that there was an area with 6 cavities in a small area, and above there were multiple Black-capped Chickadees calling out, so I did notice a correlation between bird abundance and snag/cavity abundance. I also noted that the larger the snag size, the larger the cavity that was available. Something I noted was that these cavities looked unnatural, as if they were created by something, perhaps a woodpecker or human activity? I can imagine that cavities in these snags are important homes for bird species, and without them individuals will be vulnerable to the environment and predation.

Location: New Orleans
Date: 03/12/2019
Weather: 74 F. Partly Cloudy
Time: 1pm-3pm
Habitat: Swamp

Bird ID:
Belted Kingfisher: 3
Bald Eagle: 2
Great Blue Heron: 4
Great Egret: 3
Pileated Woodpecker: 1
Mallard: ~10
Black-bellied Whistling Duck: 2

When I went to Louisiana for spring break, I dedicated a few days to birding, one day on the Mississippi river, and the other in the swamps of Louisiana. I am going to write about the notes I took and observations I made from the swamp. I saw many birds, and could identify only the ones we saw in class and one a tour guide was able to tell me. We would stop to watch birds per my request, and witnessed 2 Great Blue Herons taking turns bringing up twigs and leaves to the top of a tree, which I assumed to be them building a nest. The two birds would make short squawking noises to each other as if they were greeting one another.

Furthermore, I saw a Bald Eagle (which was super exciting), and was able to hear another one! I didn't know they sounded like that and it took me by surprise when we saw the outline of one on a telephone pole calling. The calls were dispersed, and high pitched, which when I looked up the sounds found out it was a female telling potential mates that she is ready for copulation. This was extremely interesting to me, as the Bald Eagle was positioned out in the open on the tallest thing around, probably displaying herself and allowing all potential suiters to find her.

When watching the Mallards I noticed sexual dimorphism between the males and females, the male had a bright green head, while the female had a brown head. I believe this adaptation in the males' head color was evolved through sexual selection by the female. When compared to the Black-bellied Whistling Duck I observed, the males colors were extremely different, and believe these differences manifested due to speciation dependent on their natural habitats. I assumed these birds were just visiting the area for winter as I was. I decided to watch the Mallards for a while, and took note of their behaviors, which mainly included them bobbing their heads in and out of the water searching for food. The Mallards also stayed relatively close to one another, maybe because they are safer from an alligator in a pack than by themselves (higher chance its someone else rather than you). These behaviors make sense to the Mallards circadian rhythm because they sleep at night, and forage during the day. Considering it was one of the first warm days in Louisiana for s few weeks, the Mallards were probably soaking up the sun, and taking a dip in the cool water.

The pishing exercise I couldn't get to work in Louisiana, which I expect to be because I didn't really see many groups in flocks. When I returned home however, I attempted it on my way to school this morning. I walk through Centennial Woods every morning to get to campus, and always see Black-capped Chickadees, especially in the morning. This morning I would make "pish" sounds whenever I heard more than one individual calling. At first I began with low pishing, but nothing came nearby. I then began to use a high pitched pish, to which I could see some Black-capped Chickadees moving from the top of trees to a lower position to see what was going on. I also noted that the calls between individuals began to increase in frequency when i would "pshh". Over time I think I got pretty good at the pish and even elongated the shhh. During my final 10 minutes in the woods A large flock of Black-capped Chickadees flew over my head and landed nearby searching the ground. I believe that the pshh sound resembles that of a predator coming (sound of bush leaves moving), and made the birds more vocal to alert other individuals of a possible threat. However, I also saw some individuals getting closer, and flocks moving in around me, which could be explained by a type of defense mechanism, where the birds appear to be stronger in a group. The groups could also form because the sound resembles a potential food source, like seeds falling, or insects(?). This could explain a sort of group foraging behavior, that could benefit all in the flock.