Field journal 3 - Ecological Physiology

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.

Publicado el marzo 5, 2020 10:39 TARDE por g_underhill