UVM Ornithology Field Journal 4
Today’s fieldwork took place on central campus green, in between my classes from 10:40am-11:40am. It was very sunny, but also windy with a temperature of 38 degrees F. I spotted a few year-round species including the Black-capped Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse. These species are year-round species because of many different adaptations that allow them to handle the harsh Vermont winters. For example, the Black-capped Chickadee has a dense coat which a great for insulation. They are also able to enter a controlled state of hypothermia called torpor, which we learned about in class, which drops their body temperature and allows for saving energy. Black-capped Chickadees also have a great memory for food storage where they can remember where they out their forages. Speaking of forages, they are great foragers which allows them to find food in small crevices, same goes for the Tufted Titmouse.
I also saw a few Ring-billed Gulls as I heard their call from above head. These are non-residential birds and could possibly be considered obligate migrates due to their almost obligatory behavior for them to migrate south in the winter even if their resources aren't diminishing; but they don't always migrate at the exact same time of year so it is hard to say. Ring-billed Gulls are omnivores and a big part of their diet includes insects so for them to go south for winter makes sense because their are very limited bugs in Vermont in this time of year. These birds are very found of staying by the water so it is likely that they have just arrived from a southern state like the Carolines, Georgia, or Florida. For my mini activity milage estimate, I used Fort Lauderdale, Florida as my southern point for the Ring-billed Gull because I saw a few while I was down there for spring break. If the Gull I saw while birding today just came from Fort Lauderdale, then they possible migrated a total of ~1,533 miles!
Observations
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