Ornithology Field Journal 2
Date: 2/23/2024
Start time: 3:03 pm
End time: 3:40 pm
Location: Centennial Woods
Weather: Sunny, 48 degrees, 6mph North-eastern winds, some clouds
Habitats: Dense forest, mainly eastern white pine and hemlocks, lots of downed trees and snags.
All the birds I observed during my walk in Centennial woods were songbirds except for the Downy Woodpecker and the American Crow. I only heard the songbirds and could not see them, my assumption for this beyond the fact that the canopy cover was dense is because the birds were attempting to conserve their energy by resting. Considering it was mid-afternoon I imagine they had already spent much of their day finding and eating food, and were beginning to settle down for the evening. In the winter birds need to eat more food to maintain their energy and stay warm, but they cannot eat too much or they risk being unable to fly successfully. Their diets increase slightly since they are using more of their energy to stay warm, but they also fluff their feathers and will sit for longer periods of time with their bills and feet tucked into their body. I noticed this behavior with the Northern Cardinal that was resting on a branch with its feet tucked up and underneath itself. These things combined give the birds a fighting chance at surviving the cold Vermont winter.
It was a relatively warm day for February here in Vermont, so the song birds were a lot more active then they normally would be. However, they were only active in that they were singing and making a lot of calls to each other. The Downy Woodpecker was much more active then the songbirds, it was flying from tree to tree pecking holes and searching for food. There seemed to be a focus on the snag trees, likely because those trees have wood that would be much easier to break apart. These dead trees would also be filled with worms and insects that eat the decomposing bark, so it would be an easy place to hunt down some food.
In the 40 minutes of walking I did I noticed 24 snags most of which had many cavities on it. From my knowledge, these cavities make great homes for nocturnal birds like owls, because it keeps them hidden from any potential predators during the day when they sleep. The area that I found/heard the most birds was an area that had about 5 snags in it. I would imagine that birds seek shelter in the cavities of snags quite often either to sleep, rest, or nest. Similar to the Downy Woodpecker who was utilizing the snag for a quick meal, I would also assume that many birds can find a lot of insects in snags that make for an easy food source which would be crucial in the winter time when other sources of food like berries and nuts are not as readily available.
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