FJ 7 April 20, 2020

On April 20 at 3:30 pm I went out into the field for bird observations and completed the observation period at 5:00 pm. My place of choosing was close to home in Georgia, VT in walking distance but was centered around a thicket of trees nearby that I had recognized frequent bird activity in recently. The weather was 40 degrees and partly cloudy when I went out into the field that afternoon. The wind was gusty at about 10 mph. The wind chill made it a cold afternoon excursion. The area that I was in for my observation period was very thick with trees and shrubs. The thicket had many sumac trees and was in a low area with wet grounds, and many down trees. There was a ridge to one side that had pine trees at growing at the top. This area was high in car traffic with an interstate very close, and an access to an industrial park within 40 yards.

In the duration I was in the field I saw two Northern Cardinals, two Black-capped Chickadees, one House Sparrow, and two Red-winged Blackbirds. The two Northern Cardinals presented fascinating behaviors to watch. One male and one female being able to recognize from their striking red color of the male, and the muted red-brown color of the female were in a singing flurry darting from tree to tree which can be represented by mate selection. The male finally landed in a large tree and continued to sing while the female went out of sight. Before the two Northern Cardinals linked up the male was perched in the thicket on sumac trees singing where I first spotted them. The singing could be related to defending a territory and the area in which they were located was prime territory. In this area there were many things that could benefit a prime territory, with plenty of cover, plentiful food sources with many berry producing trees, and many down trees that could house insects. Because of the prime territory it could indicate that this bird has a higher fitness than others of his species.

The Red-winged Blackbirds seen in the duration of the field prefer a different habitat preference than the Northern Cardinals viewed as well. As the Northern Cardinals appear to prefer to nest in thickets, a Red-winged Blackbird would prefer to nest in cattails or tall reeds. There are cattails and tall reeds located very close to where my observation area was for the day where a Red-winged Blackbird may nest. The nest is built by the female and built from stringy vegetation like grasses or stocks and pieces of the cattails and reed that can be gathered within the nesting area of the cattails and reeds.

Mini Activity:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Cy0hdzHyxyOG7a9TJIDznojIrp_lo66zqExKtq5fzMA/edit

Posted on April 22, 2020 07:06 PM by ajchagnon