3/1 March Bird Ecology

Date: 3/01/23
Start Time: 7:00
End Time: 8:20
Location: Mansfield Ave where residential area meets woods
Weather: Cloudy, 37℉ with a slight SW wind
Habitats: A combination of street trees, and border forest with patches of brush and snags

This week I observed the birds around my neighborhood. I walked to the border of the residential area and the adjacent woods to get a sense of how birds spend their time in early March. The tree composition in the area is predominantly White Ash, Eastern White Pine, Paper Birch, Red Maple, and various street trees. This morning was very active for birds in the area. With chilly temperatures persisting, the birds are still utilizing adaptations and behaviors to survive. Birds conserve energy to keep warm by postponing breeding until later months. For the most part, they spend most of their time on maintenance, feeding, and resting.

One behavior that enhances winter survival is preening, which maintains feather structure and ensures that the bird is well-insulated. I watched an American Robin preening atop a street tree. Another robin was puffing out its feathers to maintain its body temperature. These robins were by far the most frequent birds that I encountered, with a total of around 8 birds. Their song indicated the arrival of Spring. Another warming behavior I observed was two House Sparrows huddling together atop a tree branch. This allowed them to share body heat and maintain sufficient temperatures.

As I continued on, I heard the laugh-like call and pecking sounds of the Pileated Woodpecker. These woodpeckers depend on hollowing out cavities in trees where they shelter in the cold. The excavation of these holes begins in the fall. Pileated Woodpeckers create separate cavities in the spring for nesting. I assume that the pecking I heard was either the woodpecker beginning its nesting cavity or foraging for insect larvae, such as those of ants and beetles.

Towards the end of my walk, I rapped a stick on a snag and a Black-capped Chickadee emerged. I would assume that the chickadee had finished its foraging for insect larvae and seeds for the morning and returned to the snag to stay warm. These hollows are extremely important for birds that do not have the anatomical capabilities (such as that of the woodpecker) to create caverns to stay warm. Snags like these protect birds as well as other animals from harsh winds and allow body heat to accumulate in frigid temperatures. For a bird like a Black-capped Chickadee, smaller snags would be ideal, as they allow less room for predators and allow less space for heat to dissipate. Other birds I saw and heard included the European Starling, Northern Cardinal, American Crow, 3 Tufted Titmouse, and 3 White-breasted Nuthatches.

由使用者 lhaigh lhaigh2023年03月07日 20:51 所貼文

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什麼

北美紅雀 (Cardinalis cardinalis)

觀察者

lhaigh

日期

3月 1, 2023

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觀察者

lhaigh

日期

3月 1, 2023

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什麼

北美黑啄木鳥 (Dryocopus pileatus)

觀察者

lhaigh

日期

3月 1, 2023

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觀察者

lhaigh

日期

3月 1, 2023

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觀察者

lhaigh

日期

3月 1, 2023

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