April 26- Field Journal 7

Date - April 24, 2021
Start time - 8:00am
End time - 9:30am
Location - Fort Cassin/ Porter Bay, Addison, VT
Weather - Partly cloudy, 40 degrees F, little to no wind
Habitat(s) - Farmland

For this field journal and birding excursion, I ventured down to Addison county in hopes of seeing the largest swallow in North America, the Purple Martin. I was very excited to see this species in particular, as swallows have always been a favorite of mine. As we pulled up, the large swallow was immediately visible; their dark purple iridescent feathers contrasted the white bird boxes. A behavior visible that related to territory selection was the fighting between two species over the Martin boxes. European Starlings are notorious for pushing native species out of areas, and Purple Martins are no exception. In the 10 minutes I observed the 7 Purple Martins, 13 European Starlings stalked the boxes, and at least 3 of them attacked the Purple Martins hoping to steal their territory.

The Purple Martins, on this side of the Rocky's, are basically only seen in human-made nest boxes. Native Americans have been hanging gourds for these birds for generations. In comparison, European Starlings are cavity nesters and nest in woodpecker holes, hollow areas in trees, and cavities on the sides of buildings. European Starlings are invasive, and are known for pushing native cavity nester species out. The Purple Martins were singing away when I arrived at 8am, defending their area from the lingering European Starlings. Compared to other members of its species, the Purple Martins are defending an average territory compared to the rest of its species. Purple Martins have been living in man-made nests dating back generations, so this is not a new territory, nor is its a "poorer" territory. Both birds are quite fit, the Purple Martin being quite agile hunters due insects being in their diet- this also goes for European Starlings. Another bird that I saw was the House Sparrow, who are not cavity nesters. These birds make their nests out of coarse dried vegetation, feathers, string, paper, and other materials for their nests. These birds lived very close to the house located on the farmland, and also quite close to the Purple Martins. There were small patches of forest nearby, where they got the dried vegetation from. The House Sparrows could collect the feathers from the Purple Martins nests, and string and paper from the house.

Mini-Activity:

Attached in "human"!

Posted on April 26, 2021 01:46 AM by mia0507