FJ4: Social Behavior & Phenology

Luke Lombardo

Date: March 15th, 2023
Location: Banff, Alberta, Canada
Weather: 15 Fahrenheit, light snow, partly sunny, southwest wind.
Habitat: Subalpine ecoregion, lodgepole pine, Englemann spruce, and subalpine fir dominated forest.
Start time: 5:00pm
End time: 6:30pm

During this spring break I was able to travel out to Banff National Park located in Alberta, Canada, where I got the chance to do some excellent birding. For this excursion, I had planned to walk through the town of Banff, into a trail along the Bow River that is surrounded by a coniferous forest. It was not long before I spotted two Black-billed Magpies, and three Canada Jays.
Firstly, I came across the Black-billed Magpies that immediately struck me as a unique species. They were very vocal birds, and their call can be described as a “wock-wock-wock” harsh noise. It’s hard to know what they were saying to each other, however I believe they were letting one another know where they were located. There is an old superstition regarding magpies, saying that the number of individuals spotted tells the observer whether they will have good or bad luck. It goes as follows.
“One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told”. I am fascinated by this as I spotted two of them and had so much joy my whole trip. It seemed to me as if the Black-billed Magpies were resting, because they were observed sitting on top of a street sign, not showing any signs of foraging. The resting and lethargic behavior indicates circadian rhythm. Later, I was able to spot three Canada Jays who were observed foraging. They were flying in short patterns, foraging small nuts, seeds, and leftover food from humans on the sidewalk. It seemed to me as if they were communicating by following one another, perhaps showing each individual where the food is. The Canada Jay was a rather quite species that was following its circannual rhythm.
Both species, Black-billed Magpies, and Canada Jay had similar plumage. The white chest in both birds were very bright which allows them to blend into the snow easily. However, the Black-billed Magpie had a dark black back and head, compared to the lighter gray back and head of the Canada Jay. I believe this plumage pattern to be beneficial in a snowy habitat because they can hide from predators better than others.
As I was observing the Canada Jays, I experimented using the pshhhh sound to see what effect it would have on their behavior. The Canada Jays were not attracted by it, seemingly they were scared and flew away for a few minutes. I believe they had this reaction because it is a rather unusual noise for quite forests of Banff. However, the noise sure did alter the behavior of the birds.

由使用者 lukelombardo lukelombardo2023年03月19日 01:00 所貼文

觀察

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觀察者

lukelombardo

日期

3月 15, 2023

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什麼

Pica hudsonia

觀察者

lukelombardo

日期

3月 15, 2023

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