3/04/18 Bird Walk at Red Rocks Park

I went to Red Rocks Park in South Burlington, VT on Sunday, March 4th. I went there around 11am, and it was 41 degrees Fahrenheit. The trails were relatively quiet, but I ran into a group of people who said they saw a Carolina Wren down the path, which I thought was unlikely, and never spotted it myself. Half way through my trip it started to snow, but this didn’t discourage any of the birds I was seeing and hearing.

The species I saw and heard the most were Black-capped Chickadees. I saw one Tufted Titmouse foraging with the Black-capped Chickadees deeper into the woods. I had a Hairy Woodpecker fly right in front of me and land on snag to my right, and foraged as I stood and took pictures. When I was walking out of the woods, about to wrap up my birding trip, I saw one American Crow, a White-breasted Nuthatch, and heard one Herring Gull. Each of these species were seen at the edge of the trail on mature trees or snags, except the Herring Gull which flew overhead towards Lake Champlain.

Although it wasn’t particularly cold, I was surprised to see the birds so active in the snow. The Tufted Titmouse and the Black-capped Chickadees, from what I saw, spent most of their time foraging in the trees deeper in the forest for insects or plant matter such as seeds or berries. For these Passerines, their winter diet may be more varied due to lack of food resources. In the summer, Tufted Titmice generally eat insects, but will eat more seeds in the winter. Black-capped Chickadees are the same in that 80-90 percent of their diet in the summer and fall is insects and other animal food; however they are also known to eat seeds and nuts from birdfeeders, but may avoid being exposed if winter wind is particularly harsh. The American Crow and Herring Gull both scavenge, probably more so in winter when the Gull might have a harder time catching marine invertebrates, and when the Crow might have a harder time finding seeds. The Hairy Woodpecker and the White-breasted Nuthatch both have diets largely made up of insects, but both are also known to eat seeds from birdfeeders. They have similar feeding strategies, where they can cling to the side of a tree to forage. Avoiding cold winter wind is easier for Hairy Woodpeckers and White-breasted Nuthatches because they’re able to hop around the tree trunk and stay shielded from the wind, but the Black-capped Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse need to forage lower in the trees to avoid the colder air higher in the trees.

Hairy Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatches, Tufted Titmice, and Black-capped Chickadees all use nest cavities to sleep in. While the Hairy Woodpecker can create their own cavity, the Passerines typically use nest boxes or cavities created by Woodpeckers. Red Rocks has a lot of large snags, and practically every snag I saw had cavities in it. Snags are essential for creating ideal habitats for most Passerines and Woodpeckers. Herring Gulls make their nests in sand. Crows make their nests high up in evergreen trees, but will nest in deciduous trees if they don’t have as many options.

All information provided by Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/

Posted on March 12, 2018 09:36 PM by apbray