Field Journal 4: Social Behavior and Phenology

Most of the bird interactions we saw we were among different duck species at the waterfront and between Common Grackles and European Starlings in the wooded area behind the pier. The grackles and starlings seemed to be fighting over space along telephone poles. The grackles were fluffing up their feathers to appear bigger, probably either to intimidate their competition for mates or show dominance over territory. The former would make the most sense, since I do know it is the breeding season for grackles. I thought it was interesting that they were doing this around the starlings as well. I expected this kind of behavior among the grackles but not between species.
The Common Goldeneye in the water were exhibiting similar behavior. The one male we saw being surrounded by three females was throwing his head back and thrusting it forward in a courtship display, which fits in with the time of year we are in. Breeding season is upon us. The plumage also plays a part in this. For goldeneye specifically, the male's stark black and white feathers could help to stand out and attract females. The male goldeneye plumage is very different from the male Mallard plumage. Mallards opt for a more colorful look, possibly to blend in to their environment and attract mates at the same time with their colorful head pattern.
In an especially wooded area near the waste processing plant, we tried spishing to attract birds. I think this works so well on passerines, like chickadees and Tufted Titmice, in particular because its so similar to their alarm calls. When they hear that there could be a predator nearby, a whole group of them might come over to chase it off. I'm not sure why exactly the spishing sound works because to me it doesn't sound a whole lot like a bird alarm call.
One more thing I got from this field trip: we saw a groundhog running through the train tracks on the way back and I learned that in the Midwest people call groundhogs "whistling pigs". Just something cool that I wanted to add.

Posted on March 22, 2021 08:48 PM by