Field Obs1: ID and Flight

Kyler Mose
WFB130: Ornithology
Field Observation #1
ID and Flight

Date: 19-Febraury-2019
Time: 10:00-11:30AM
Location: Wheeler Nature Park, South Burlington
Coordinates: 44.4415, -73.16977
Weather: Sunny, clear skies, 19°F (-7°C)
Habitat: Mixed (see first paragraph below)

I observed birds at Wheeler Nature Park in South Burlington. This location was awesome because it had a variety of habitats ranging from open fields, dense underbrush, and open forests with a running stream throughout the park to support higher productivity levels. The variety of niches within this park yielded a range of birds observed which allowed for proper comparison of flight patterns between birds of different habitats.

American Robins and Cedar Waxwings were found in more open habitats. I observed the Waxwing’s flight pattern, which was comprised of flapping during takeoff, followed by short gliding periods. They had to do continuous flapping in order to keep up the altitude and velocity but did have periods of gliding in the air. This flight pattern is supported by their structure of their wings, which are broad and pointed. The group of Waxwings observed were eating in a tree and had brief fluttering moments where they would hover over a berry. Again, their broad and large wing to body height ratio aided in this flight pattern and technique.

In more dense and covered forests Black-capped Chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches were observed. This difference in habitat also resulted in different flight patterns observed in these smaller birds. The Black-capped Chickadee had more sporadic, and hoppy flight patterns where they would flutter to different branches, rather than soaring through open spaces. When they did more open passages of flights, their wings were working much harder than that of the Waxwing, which can be attributed to the much smaller scale of the Chickadees wing. The Chickadee has a very distinct manner of flight, often fluttering between branches, which aided in identify these little birds at greater distances.

Posted on February 19, 2019 09:35 PM by kylermose