Migration

Tyler Schontag

Today’s date is Wednesday, March 18th. The weather is cloudy and quite chilly with a steady breeze. I began my observation at around 1PM and concluded at 3PM at my aunt’s house and surrounding neighborhood in Jericho, VT. The neighborhood goes in a loop and there is a large, flat field in the middle. Most of the flora in the area is White Pine trees accompanied by various bushes and some flowering plants in the yards. Many of the houses in the neighborhood have bird feeders set up in the yard so most of the species I saw were common backyard birds. I did not see any exquisite species this week unfortunately. On the far side of the neighborhood there is a patch of woods with trails where many trees have been cut, creating an open forest habitat. After spending some time in the field I thought I might be able to find some more exciting species in these woods. Unfortunately this was not the case, I was unable to visually locate any birds but I did hear a few calls. The “yink yink” of the White-breasted Nuthatch was the most common call followed by a mechanical rattling. If I were closer to a river I would have thought the rattling was a Belted Kingfisher, but it was really just a Red Squirrel.

The most abundant species I saw this week was the Dark-eyed Junco. There appeared to be a flock of about 20 to 30 individuals occupying the neighbors backyard. Observing this flock it became very clear to me what the advantages of being in a flock were. It was nearly impossible to get close enough to get a clear picture. One individual would spot me and then they would all take to the trees. Since this bird is not a migratory species living in a flock is an adaptation that serves as an advantage due to the increased alertness. Living in a flock allows individuals to spend less time scanning and more time feeding, this is especially important in winter months when food can be scarce. An individual can trust that since they have strength in numbers it is less likely they will be eaten and more likely that at least one member will spot a threat and warn the others. When the flock became spooked, most of them would take shelter in one tree while a few strays occupied another tree or bush. I would guess that the individuals that stray from the flock are the ones that eventually get picked off and not get the chance to pass on their genes. If this is true, the species would be evolving to always maintain a flock, which would further increase their fitness.

Black-capped Chickadee’s were another common species I saw this week which came to no surprise. They seemed to form a looser flock than the Dark-eyed Junco’s and more often appeared to be in pairs. The chickadee is another non-migratory species so it shares many of the advantageous adaptations as the Dark-eyed Junco’s that come with flocking. However the chickadee is considerably smaller than the Dark-eyed Junco which could also be why they appeared to form less numerous flocks. I also found that the chickadee was much more daring and curious than the junco’s. When observing the chickadee’s it was much easier to get close enough for a picture without scaring them away. One individual even came right up to me and seemed to be interested in what I was doing, I was able to get some awesome pictures of this bird. I believe the reason they were so curious and daring is because they’re so tiny and fast which meant they could escape danger much faster than the larger junco’s.
A third species I saw this week was the Hairy Woodpecker which I wrote about in my previous entry. This is also a non-migratory species, but unlike the chickadee and junco, they do not form flocks. I think that their solitary behavior is a result of their size and diet. The Hairy Woodpecker forages for bugs in trees and this can be a difficult task because most trees are not abundant with bugs. If a flock of woodpeckers were all trying to forage on one tree, the chances of all individuals finding enough food would be very slim. Chickadees and juncos feed on nuts and berries which are more abundant so they don’t have to worry as much about allocating the resource as efficiently. The medium-sized bird also doesn’t have to worry as much about becoming prey unlike the small chickadee. They also have quite a large bill which can serve as a formidable weapon if attacked.

Mini activity: Since I did not see any migratory species I can’t add up the total miles traveled.

Posted on April 19, 2018 12:26 AM by tschontag