Warm days are great for Winter behavior
Feb 24 2:30
Weather: 52 F Clear and sunny
Location: Urban neighborhoods to Centennial woods to urban neighborhoods to Trinity woods
Following a potentially better plan of going out in both warmer weather and later in the day, I started to walk towards Centennial woods through Centennial field. The first flock of birds was found at the entrance of the Centennial woods in the Northern White cedars and Blue Spruce lining the adjacent lawns.
The flock contained a juvenile American goldfinch, female Northern cardinal, two Dark-eyed Juncos, a Tufted Titmouse, and two Black-capped chickadees. For the time we were present, the majority of the birds remained in the cedars and spruce between the woods and yards. The chickadees and tufted titmouse did flutter in and out of the tree line but this was for a brief period. While two humans and a dog may make birds nervous enough to stay in a tree, they were also singing in the trees before our arrival. Their continual use of the thick trees was likely for a needle barrier from the, usually, cold wind and snow, considering the coniferous trees still have needles and could provide more protection than the bare deciduous trees also present. Sadly, their well planned cover and the particularly warm day did not allow me to see if they might have been close together for warmth or puffing out their feathers to trap air.
As stated before, for the most part, the birds remained in the tree, singing and calling. There weren’t many obvious long flights or sleeping birds. However, the chickadees did make a short trip to a nearby bird feeder. There were no other birds at the feeder so the chickadees settled for a second before returning to the tree line. It seemed to be more important to spend time communicating with the other birds in the tree than eating or flying around.
Considering the flock’s location, and the nearby bird feeder, the diet of the birds is probably largely seed. They are most likely staying close to residential areas and out of the woods for easy access to the bird feeders. The feeders were likely the reason behind the multi-species flock as well. All of the birds are likely feeding on these feeders and consider the extra eyes on watch out duty and other protection matters as a fair price for a little less feed. When the weather warms and the ground thaws, these birds might split for a more insect related diet into the lawns or deeper into the woods so they don’t have to share food their hatchlings need.
White the day was young when I visited, I could make a guess as to where the bird’s rested. Walking deeper into the woods, there are a couple of snags with bird-sized cavities. Though no one was occupying the snags, the birds could be sleeping in a cavity at night. Since there weren't many, the birds could have also just remained inside the conifers for the night as the needles were a good cover. There is also a chance all of the birds were near the yards for food but also for bird houses as well. More birds might tolerate human activity when it is cold and the conifers are taken.
On the walk back from centennial woods, I looked up to see eight pigeons watching me from the phone lines. Seeing how they were in direct sun and not puffing out their feathers, they were most likely keeping warm enough with the sun’s heat. They appeared to be taking this time to rest, not even moving an inch when I was taking pictures underneath them. However, when a lone pigeon made an appearance, the flock flew off after it. This could be a territorial dispute but there were no calls or swooping. I believe the pigeon might have found food and the rest of the flock was following the source. Having a group would appear to be the tactic most birds use to survive a Vermont winter.
In Trinity woods, I was greeted with much less tolerate birds. No one wanted to settle to have their picture taken or even be identified. By piecing together calls and short sights, a small group of three tufted titmouse and an unrelated, single white-breasted nuthatch was found. Both species seemed to spend more time flying than the group near the centennial. They constantly were calling out and flying between the ground and trees. Unlike the Centennial’s flock, these birds spent much more time foraging. They did not have as many coniferous trees and instead remained in the sunny edge of the woods. Due to the lack of bird feeders in the area and the amount of movement, these birds were probably searching for a variety of organic materials to eat. Not having the advantage of good cover and human-sourced food made the activity and diet of these birds change drastically.
I was lucky enough to catch a male Hairy Woodpecker on the edge of Trinity woods. He was very hard at work foraging into a hole in the tree and when he became irritated by the cameras, he moved to a new tree and started tapping some more. Woodpeckers are the infamous species which make holes within trees and snags for species to live or allowing easier access to the bugs living inside. While some woodpeckers start holes, this one was expanding on one, which looked large enough to house a small bird. There aren’t many large trees or snags in Trinity woods but the few cavities found were large enough for a small songbird, maybe a larger bird if they squeezed. The cavities in Centennial woods were smaller. There were a couple larger cavities but they didn’t look deep enough to hold any bird. The snags in Centennial could likely be solely used as feeding spots for birds like the Brown Creeper and Downy Woodpecker or may not chip away enough food to make a cavity for living.
As a disclaimer, I did not see any birds in the cavities. A couple of snags were knocked on and no bird came out in both locations. Likely, the birds were out enjoying the sun or perhaps did not want to live in that particular rotting piece of wood. However, the inhabitants of the cavities could have also been bats which might have slept through the knocking or could have been squirrels and other rodents.
Another interesting occurrence on Trinity a few days after the bird walk involved a garbage truck. When a flurry of American crows and American robins flew past my window, I figured they had a dispute about who could use the fruiting trees or the one thawed strip of grass, but then the garbage truck drove past. While not ideal, it seems the diet of the birds may also be garbage. I hope when spring comes and the ground thaws, at least the robins can start eating insects.
List of Birds:
1 juvenile American goldfinch
1 female Northern cardinal
2 Dark-eyed Juncos
4 Tufted Titmouse
2 Black-capped chickadees
9 Rock Pigeons
1 White breasted nuthatch
1 Hairy woodpecker
Flurry of American Robins and American crows who gave me no time to count, but if I had to guess, ten crows and four robins
