WFB 130 - Field Journal 2
2/26/21, 8:50 am – 10:30 am, UVM Redstone green outside of WDW dorm (open trimmed green spaces with a couple trees and bushes). Weather was mostly clear skies, a little cloudy and a little windy (blowing towards the south). The species I observed on the campus green were House Sparrows and an unknown species. Most of the House Sparrows I observed I didn’t see, they were calling in what sounded like a close together crowd on a cluster of trees, though I did get to spot one a little bit separated from this crowd. The House Sparrows hung around and continued to call from 8:50 to 9:10, then about 9:20 I heard a bird call that I could not identify by the Coolidge dorm building (it definitely sounded like something I was familiar with but since I couldn’t see the bird nor find a good comparison online I couldn’t figure what species it was). For the unknown species, it sounded like it was two birds, one that initiated the call and one that was responding to the call.
The House Sparrow I was able to see appeared to be taking shelter in a bush to get out of the cold wind, this may have been strategy to retain body heat or a way to slow down the loss of it. This bird was letting out a call while resting on the branches of this bush. So, for time management, it seemed like the House Sparrow was trying to multi-task to limit the amount of unnecessary energy expenditure. I didn’t see any bird actively hunting/eating, so I am unsure what their winter diets are like, but I can assume that their summer diet may differ in the sense that they would be able to dig for worms in the unfrozen soil or eat berries on blooming trees. In this specific area, birds may rest overnight in the trees that could provide some coverage from the cold winds.
For the mini activity, I did not see any snags since I was on campus green. Though, in general it seems that the larger the snag is the more cavities there are and/or the larger the cavities are. An area with more snags/cavities appear to be more likely to have a bird nesting or feeding than an area without any snags. Snags are important for bird species to utilize for food (extracting bugs from the wood) and for shelter/resting. A common species to utilize snags are woodpeckers (hairy, downy, pileated, etc.) as they are able to pierce through the bark and extracting bugs for food.
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