akipp's Journal

Date - 03/07/21
Start time - 3:00 pm
End time - 4:30 pm
Location - Burlington Country Club/UVM Campus
Weather - 28℉, Sunny, 5 mph S wind
Habitats - Lightly wooded areas, open fields

Most of the birds I saw on my bird walk were flying around, some were quickly hopping to a nearby branch, and others, like the crows and hawks, were flying overhead. The Black-capped Chickadees and American Robins I saw were sitting on branches with their feathers fluffed to help them retain heat. The American Robins were also sitting close together, which I assume is so they can share their body heat with each other to stay warm.
The birds seemed to be only doing tasks necessary to survive and when they weren’t they were resting on branches as much as possible. The crows all seemed to be flocking toward what I assume was a carcass or a large amount of food of some kind, the Red-tailed Hawks were flying high in the sky seemingly hunting for squirrels and other small animals, and the Hairy Woodpecker was hunting for insects in a tree. The diets of these birds are probably restricted in the winter due to less availability of seeds and nuts coming from trees and fewer animals running around for predators to eat.
Various species might overnight in the trees on the quad in front of the Grossman School of Business or in the Redstone Pines. Various species could also overnight in snags that are on the edges of campus, which are important because the smaller species of birds can nest in them for protection against predators and the weather. Snags are probably also good for keeping the birds warm because to an extent it is able to contain the heat that the birds give off.

Date - 03/21/2021
Start time - 3:10
End time - 4:45
Location - Centennial Woods and UVM campus
Weather - 60℉, 2 mph N wind, Sunny
Habitats - Suburban and in the woods

I didn’t see many birds interacting with each other and most of the birds a saw that were in groups were flying overhead, which makes me think that they were looking for food. However, I did see some Black-capped Chickadees that were hopping on the ground and seemed to be looking for seeds on the ground to eat, but they didn’t seem to really be interacting with each other. I did hear a Blue Jay calling but they stopped pretty quickly, so I think the Blue Jay was letting it’s mate know where it was instead of raising the alarm that there was an intruder in their territory or some other form of threat. There were also some chickadees that were calling and singing, I think the calls were them warning of danger or they found food while the songs were likely the chickadees trying to find a mate or communicating with there mate about something.
The Northern Cardinal and the Black-capped Chickadees I saw looked different from when I saw them a couple of weeks ago. The Northern Cardinal I saw seemed to be slimmer and not as fluffed up as the ones I saw the last time I went on a birding excursion, and the cardinal seemed to be brighter today compared to a couple of weeks ago. However, the bird I saw today may have just been cleaner because I only saw one Northern Cardinal, so I didn’t see whether others were also getting brighter as it gets closer to summer. Similar to the Northern Cardinal, the Black-capped Chickadees weren’t fluffed up and seemed slimmer than the ones I saw a couple of weeks ago. The chickadees weren’t getting brighter like the cardinal may have, but they did seem to have more beige underneath their wings. I think the changing colors between these two species is due to the fact that the summer is coming and the change in plumage seen in the Black-capped Chickadees would allow them to blend in with their surroundings better. The brightening of the cardinal, however, is probably helpful for the opposite reason because the bright male can distract a predator to allow the female time to escape and to keep the predator from finding the nest if it gets too close.
The Pileated Woodpecker I saw was pecking away at a hole it had made in the side of a tree and when I tried spishing near it, the woodpecker flew to another nearby tree before going back to the hole it was pecking. I think it was creating a nest to raise offspring in because it is getting close to the time of year when Pileated Woodpeckers start mating and I don’t think it would have returned to the hole it was making if it wasn’t a nest in the making. I’m pretty sure I didn’t do the spishing right because every time I tried, the birds, except the Pileated Woodpecker, would leave and it wouldn’t draw out any more birds. I think when it’s done right, spishing attracts birds because, to me, the spishing sounds seem similar to calls that a bird would make if it was in danger or found food and the birds will show up to help defend the “bird” making the call or to see if there is food they can eat.