Field Journal Assignment 5

On Monday March 27 at around 7 a.m. I started bird watching before class. I did this bird watching outside on the Redstone Green on campus, as it is usually very lively with birds. It was about 45° and it was partly cloudy in the morning. I heard a lot more species than I saw. Based on the songs I am estimating that I heard some Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, and Black-capped Chickadees. I'm not sure how many there were as they were in the trees and I couldn't quite distinguish them based on looks. I also saw about 3 Ring-billed Gulls wandering around as there usually are. None of the birds were exhibiting any behavior that I thing is notable, they were just singing their songs in the early morning.
All the species I heard are year-round residents in Vermont, according to All About Birds Ring-billed Gulls are only in Vermont during migration, but I have regularly seen them around campus throughout the winter. These birds forego migration most likely because their food source is still available to them in the winter and when the ground is covered in snow. They also probably have adaptations to stay warm or find shelter from the harsh winter conditions. Most of these species are small so they fit into crevices in snags and trees to stay secure. Since Burlington is a suburban area they also probably depend some on bird feeders that people have outside of their homes. Species that would be coming to Vermont now is most likely coming from the south where it was warmer. As the weather here is warming up those food resources are becoming more readily available and the harsh winter conditions are becoming less frequent.
All of the birds that I encountered are year-round residents of Vermont so they did not have to travel many miles outside of their normal daily mileage. However, some American Robins do migrate, they can fly up 250 miles a day to reach breeding grounds in Alaska and Canada from the U.S. and Mexico.

由使用者 mayacurlej 在 2023年03月28日 23:06 所貼文