North Beach
Time: 9:30 am
Date: 4/26/18
Location: North Beach, Burlington, VT
Weather: Chilly, sunny
Habitat: Riparian
The Rock Pigeons I observed seemed to be exclusively foraging rather than exhibiting mate selection, nest selection, or territory selection. However, the Downy Woodpecker I observed was surely exhibiting the latter behaviors. The individual was drumming on trees to, I assume, announce its territory and attract a mate as this is prime breeding season for Downy Woodpeckers.
As I understand it, Rock Pigeons prefer to nest on ledges, so they may nest on some of the rocky ledges that border Lake Champlain near North Beach. The Downy Woodpeckers prefer to make their nest cavities in dead wood about 5-50 feet off the ground, so they would most likely nest in the woods surrounding Lake Champlain.
Habitat requirements differ greatly from species to species due to available food, shelter, space and mates suited to that species in the area. The Downy Woodpecker was perhaps defending its territory with all its loud, consistent drumming. I would say it is defending a poor territory compared to other members of its species because, as aforementioned, woodpeckers prefer dead wood and I did not observe a lot of dead wood around. That may indicate that this bird does not have very high fitness.
The Rock Pigeon may make its nest out of small twigs or stems that it would acquire from leaf litter in the woods around North Beach.
My drawing for the mini activity showed two "x" marks where i heard Downy Woodpeckers, and trailing dots of the same size to show the drumming I was hearing.
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