3/1/2023 Ornithology Journal 2

Evan Griffin
• Date – 2/26/2023
• Start time – 1:00 PM
• End time – 2:00 PM
• Location – Centennial Woods, Burlington, VT
• Weather (temperature, wind speed/direction, precipitation) - ~28°F, overcast, a light flurry and fresh snow on the ground from the previous night, breeze blowing north or northwest.
• Habitat(s) – A well-established place for hiking, the main path going due north and extending east. Very forested with several naturally felled trees. A babbling brook with bridges going over them. The ground and trees were covered in snow, but some signs said there was poison ivy on the ground. There were pine, maple, beech and oak trees, as well as various snags along the trailway.

I drove to the woods’ parking area at around 1, and walked along the road to the beginning of the trail. While on that journey I was near some trees on the side of the road when I heard the A-G pitch song of two Black-capped Chickadees, as well as the mechanical call of a Tufted Titmouse. I saw one of the Black-capped Chickadees but couldn’t get a proper picture. I made it to the beginning of the forest path at about 1:10, and I continued due north. There weren’t really any birds to be seen or heard so I walked further towards the center, over a fallen tree, down a snow-covered slope on which I slipped and fell, and across some bridges over a brook. As I walked the path that stretched more to the east, I heard the caws of a murder of American Crows, one of which flew directly above me very quickly. Eventually I saw about 4 American Crows chase after a different bird, which might have been a Hairy Woodpecker because I heard the call of one just before they flew away. I also gazed upon a Red-Breasted Nuthatch in a tree high above me. At about 1:40 I walked back to where I started but I still couldn’t find any birds, I suspect because of the nearby street noise. I walked a little more up and down the path until 2:00 PM and then I walked back to my car.
Birds such as the American Crows and Black-capped Chickadees can have multiple adaptations for staying warm in the winter. They have dense coats of feathers, they can store enough food to keep their weight up and can even regulate their body temperature at will to conserve heat. These birds will likely be spending more time of the day sleeping and resting than they would in the summer, gathering food just to stay warm, and waiting until the warmer months to breed to conserve their own energy. Birds such as Black-capped Chickadees might tend to eat seed and berries and certain insects that could be out in the winter, American Crows might also try to eat people’s trash. This would be different from the summer when there’s a wider variety of plants, insects like caterpillars and small animals like mice. At night, American Crows might roost in the trees towards the edge of the forest, while other birds might sleep in snags.
While walking along the trail I saw multiple snags. I saw a couple at around 1:11, the first one was pretty much a stump with no prominent holes and the second one had a whole about an inch wide and a couple of inches long. Another one I saw at 1:14 had a series of holes, some were less than an inch in diameter but one was about 2 or 3 wide. I took a gander inside, there weren’t any birds but some of the wood within the hole was twined like the bird was trying to make a nest out of it. I saw a snag at 1:18 with two necks, the right one had a cavity a couple of inches wide, it too had shaved twined wood shavings. One snag I saw at 1:28 had just a large chunk of the bottom gone, over a foot long, I don’t even know if one bird could do it, it too had no birds in it. I saw one other prominent snag that had several cavities going very high up but I couldn’t walk over to it. It’s possible that a smaller snag will have smaller cavities so that it maintains its integrity and isn’t lost to the birds who use them. Snags are important because birds can use the cavities as a place to sleep or hide from a predator, to store food that they may need later, and possibly keep their young. Birds like woodpeckers and nuthatches may be likely to use snags because they eat insects and insects can be found in the cavities.

Posted on 02 March, 2023 02:54 by egriffin102701 egriffin102701

Observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Observer

egriffin102701

Date

February 26, 2023

Comments

No comments yet.

Add a Comment

Sign In or Sign Up to add comments