April 25th, 2018 Intervale, Burlington Vermont

I visited the Intervale walking trails in Burlington Vermont on April 25th. I went for the walk around 11 am and stayed there until 12:30. It was around 50 degrees but it was drizzling for most of the trip. I heard more birds than I saw. I heard a Northern Flicker across the body of water and saw a Mallard fly over the same body of water. I saw Brown-headed Cowbirds, Downy Woodpeckers, Red-winged Blackbird and Northern Cardinals on the edges of the forest. The Mourning Doves, American Robins, Song Sparrows, Pileated Woodpeckers, Crows, and Hairy Woodpeckers were deeper in the forest.

The Brown-headed Cowbirds I believe were showing mating behaviors. There were two of them sitting on the same branch and It sounded like the male was singing to the female. Every now and then the male would move slightly closer to the female. I didn't really see any other mating behaviors. I did see quite a few nests but there weren't any birds in the ones I saw. I found the most nests kind of up high and deeper into the forest. There were probably some that were near the edge too but I didn't see those ones. The deeper into the forest the nests are and the more hidden they are in the trees help to protect them from predators. The nests were probably also placed int he optimal places to get food. Birds that eat seeds would probably be near the plants and trees they get those seeds from. Birds that eat bugs would probably be the ones deeper in the forest and closer to the bottom of the tree.

The Downy Woodpeckers were fighting over territory. I heard intense singing and screeching. Then one Woodpecker started chasing two others away from the area. I would say it was protecting a prime territory. It seemed that there were a lot of Woodpeckers in that area and there were quite a few dead trees, which means this is an area with an abundance of food. I would say that the bird that drove all the others away is probably the strongest fit and the "alpha" since it seemed that once he started freaking out all the other birds left. The American Robin would probably build its nest out of mud, twigs, leaves, and other materials found on he forest floor like pine needles. I don't think they would have to go far since most of those materials can be found on the forest ground and right below the tree where their nest is.

Publicado el 29 de abril de 2018 a las 01:37 PM por sdurant