Assignment 4: Migration
This past Friday, April 6th, after eating brunch at "Sneaker's Bistro" in Winooski, Vermont, with two of my friends, we decided to go bird-watching down by the Winooski reservoir and dam. It was around 12:00. It was chilly outside but nice and sunny, and the sky was clear. Right now, because it's early spring, there wasn't a lot of plant life on the rock face of the dam area other than lichen and moss. We think there may have been some early season insects flying around down by the water, because we saw a small, brown bat skimming around by the surface and sometimes dipping into the water. We saw some familiar faces, like the cardinal, but it was really refreshing to observe some new birds I haven't had the chance to spot on my bird walks yet, like the gulls and the pigeons. I was also really excited to see the downy woodpecker on a nearby apartment complex's bird feeder, and was surprised how quickly the name of the bird sprang into my mind when I saw it!
For the migration aspect of this bird walk, I focused on the Downy Woodpecker. While I'm guessing during the warm months in Vermont, food for these birds must be relatively abundant since the main source of their diet, insects, are plentiful in the summer, it's probably a little more difficult for them to find food in the winter. I think this species is non-migratory because they can eat other foods to survive during the winter, and these foods can be found in Vermont. These include seeds, grain, plant material, and acorns. They are also feeder birds and will eat suet and sunflower seeds and stuff. I thought about how the Canada Goose migrates from North to South at the start of winter, and it has to do with the fact that there is not enough food for them in the Vermont winters and they must fly elsewhere to eat. This is because they eat grasses and plants and berries, which aren't available during winter months in the North.
Observations
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