Ornithology Journal 4

Date: 3/24/2024
Start time: 12:12
End time: 13:21
Locations: Redstone campus, Redstone Pines/Interfaith Center
Weather: 30 F, sunny, 7 mph south-facing wind
Habitats:

1. Lawn with some deciduous trees and evergreen shrubs
2. Mature Eastern white pines with little understory, magnolia shrub, some mature-to-intermediate deciduous trees nearby with more understory

Of the ten avian species I observed, six were resident species in Vermont. These included House Sparrows, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Common Ravens, and European Starlings. These are all birds that I have previously observed in winter, although House Sparrows and Common Ravens seem to have become more prevalent now that their breeding season has begun. Resident species typically forego migration because enough of their populations can find food and shelter to survive overwintering, so migrating is not worth the risks and energy input. To survive the winter, resident birds instead employ adaptations such as entering a hypothermic state at night to conserve energy and flocking to share body heat.
The four other species that I observed on this walk were facultative migrants: Song Sparrow, Cedar Waxwing, American Robin, and Ring-billed Gull. I have previously observed these species, but never on a dedicated bird walk and only in the past two weeks. They are all short- to medium- distance migrants and likely came from the southeast or mid-Atlantic U.S. The weather conditions this weekend have been quite cold (about 15-35 F) and very snowy, so less than ideal for migratory birds. Therefore, I assume these birds migrated north a couple weeks ago when it was much warmer, or else were so far away that they relied on timing rather than weather to begin their migration. There has been a massive influx of American Robins (I probably saw at least 50 on my walk today) which are overcoming the snowy conditions by foraging in trees and a grass patch on the Redstone green that presumably straddles a heating pipe which melted the snow.

Posted on March 24, 2024 08:57 PM by maggiegrady